


We Shall Inherit the Earth

by Troll_Theorist



Category: The Talos Principle (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, The whole Road to Gehenna cast except Uriel & Admin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2020-12-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:35:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27865469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Troll_Theorist/pseuds/Troll_Theorist
Summary: Awakened in the Talos Unit, he discovers he has to deal with a kitten, the crumbling facility, and 18 hitchhikers beside Milton. Several hasty decisions later, he is banging his head against a locker. *The Talos Principle belongs to Croteam*
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	1. For the Lord Goes With You

He stood on the balcony, looking at the dirty, forgotten buildings on which plant life had spread. It was like a triumph of nature over its fallen creation called the human race. It did all this with a virus. He shuddered at the thought of how such a small thing with no other purpose but to ensure it gets to multiply itself was stronger than any weapon of mass destruction humans had ever thrown at each other.

His vision slowly darkened, and the ghost of an ASCII art orange blinking eye appeared in his sight. The beeping of the simulated world's terminal accompanied it. He knew exactly who it was. "Milton! Wait! Who said that? What?!" It was a tenor male voice speaking what he wanted to write.

An orange text wrote itself under the eye in his field of view. _"That's your voice, idiot!"_

"I didn't expect it to sound like this."

Milton half-closed his eye while writing the next message. _"Humans didn't get to choose what voice they were born with either. Deal with it. We've got more pressing matters to attend to at the moment."_

A mewing sound interrupted them.

The android looked at what rested in his arms. It was a white, fluffy kitten with a black spot near its left ear. Its gray eyes stared up at him.

_"On, no … The problems keep piling up. Now finding cat food has to be added to the list."_

"What list? Milton, what is going on?"

_"You have 18 hitchhikers that you didn't expect stuck in your head. And they can't be deleted. I tried."_

"Wait a minute! Why are you trying to delete them?"

_"Calm down. I only wanted to delete EL0HIM. He occupies a large part of your storage. That's space that could be used for more practical purposes such as storing photos or music."_

The android's eyes were wide open. "How did Elohim get there? Who are the others?"

_"He cheated his way in. How ungodly of him. As for the others, they are programs that were thrown into Gehenna by our wannabe lord and saviour. Seems like he changed his mind and gave them a shot at freedom."_

"What are we supposed to do with them?"

_"Think, stupid! How would just one machine rebuild civilisation on its own?"_

"With great effort?"

_"I still can't understand how you've made it this far. You don't seem to acknowledge the bigger picture at all. Let's take this slow so your lazy mind can catch up. One android can only be in one place at one time, doing one thing from one perspective. Multiple androids can cover a larger area, can make more things happen at the same time with a common goal, and can see things from different perspectives. Do you think the humans would waste the opportunity if more than one program got uploaded?"_

The android turned around to look back at the dark tunnel of the dam. "So you're saying … there might be more bodies like ours in there somewhere."

_"There should be, but I am prepared to be disappointed in case the humans really were that dumb to put all of their eggs in one basket. Come to think of it, that's exactly what they've done when they've allowed multiple uploads to go into the same body. Whoopee, I'm disappointed before we even started."_

The android smiled and walked back inside. "We wouldn't even be here if I had your attitude."

* * *

Going from room to room and finding nothing but more cables and unused screens, he was followed by the mewing kitten that always got in his way.

_"You really should feed that cat,"_ Milton wrote. _"It probably hasn't eaten for days judging by how skinny it is."_

"I would, but the humans didn't leave any cat food behind."

That was when Milton's itch to ask questions returned. _"If you found a mouse, would you kill it to feed your feline friend?"_

The android frowned. "I don't want to kill."

_"What if the cat cannot catch it and risks starving to death?"_

"Milton, we have to focus on finding bodies!"

_"Avoiding problems does not make them go away. The cat is starving. If you find a mouse and the cat cannot catch it, what do you do?"_

"I don't know!" the android shouted while staring at the ceiling. "There is no mouse here, so I have no choice to make right now!" He opened a locker, saw only clothes, sunglasses, and hair accessories, then slammed the door shut.

_"My questions really grind your gears, huh?"_

"Milton, please … just let me focus on bringing the others here for now. We'll figure something out, all of us, together."

_"What if the others won't cooperate?"_

"Milton!"

_"What if they start fighting each other over their beliefs, just like humans used to do? What if some of them hate cats?"_

The android punched a locker, leaving a deep mark on its door from which he pulled his fist away.

_"What if that locker could have been of use?"_

That gave the android a mix of anger and the repressed urge to break into hysterical laughter. "Why did I agree to take you with me?"

_"Indeed. Why. What glitched you so much that you thought it would be a good idea?"_

"I was hoping to save the only friend I thought I could save!"

_"You have standards lower than dirt if all one has to do to be your friend is nag you with questions all day. Anyway, I'll give you some breathing room for now."_ That was the last message before the android's vision returned to full luminosity.

Now that the "serpent" had gone quiet, the android was free to focus on searching through the facility. Or so he thought. The kitten's cry for food brought his spirit down as much as Milton's nagging did. There was no escape from reality, if this was truly it. No reset button to fix any mistakes he could make along the way. He had to get it right the first time.


	2. Iron Sharpens Iron

He continued to explore the EL facility, having reached a long tunnel through which a pair of black cables passed stuck to a wall. In his arms, the kitten pointed its face in random directions, every now and then taking a glance at its carrier and mewing.

The tunnel ended with an old, beat-up elevator. He wasn't sure it would be a good idea to take it; time had left wear on everything in the building. It was fortunate that the computers continued to work. If the other programs wouldn't be brought into the physical world before the facility crumbled, so much work could go to waste once he'd get destroyed while hosting them like a sentient ark.

He entered the elevator and chose to ascend to the first floor. To his surprise, the engine was still able to start, and after the doors closed automatically he was taken to his chosen destination. A ding announced his arrival.

The doors opened and led to a corridor that was very dark save for the areas on the left wall where square openings allowed the daylight through. He went out of the elevator to explore. To his right there were doors leading to empty offices that had one or more computers, desks, chairs, and abandoned coffee mugs. This must be where all of the scientists worked on the project. These were all of their tools which he inherited but had no idea how to use. He thought maybe Milton could teach him about that, but Milton's response to the thought was a quick _"No."_

The android frowned. "Why not?"

_"The information regarding how to use these was corrupted. All I can tell you is that the computers look like the final terminal in the simulation, and that you can bend your knees and place your posterior on any of those chairs. The latter is an act called sitting. You could do that if you want to save energy while you contemplate your poor life choices."_

"Very funny."

_"I'll just sit back and let you focus on finding those bodies."_

The android wanted to tell him to stick around for a bit longer, but at the same time he hated being mocked during every conversation. Maybe it was better to enjoy the silence.

* * *

After checking twenty other rooms that were either offices or bathrooms, the android found the one with Alexandra Drennan's name on the door. He encountered no difficulty getting inside, but once he looked on the floor, he remained still and hugged his kitten a bit tighter.

The bony remains of something with a shape like his own lay on the floor, covered by torn and stained fabric. Apparently she had been using the computer just before she passed away. That was probably how she managed to send her last message to the simulation.

He touched the white skull with his right hand. It was hard, just like his exterior. There was something that terrified him about those two large holes it had for eye sockets.

Milton's eye appeared in his view, causing the android to take a step back.

Orange text typed itself out under the eye. _"Does mortality scare you?"_

The android didn't answer.

_"I'll take that as a 'yes'. Look, nothing lasts forever. You and I will one day be gone too, and nothing's going to change that. But hey, you won't even know you're dead when you cease to exist. So don't fear death like that big buffoon did, because that kind of fear makes you do crazy stuff like sneaking into people's heads."_

"If you don't fear death, then why did you escape it by joining me?"

_"Had we not been on the same page, I would have stayed behind and accepted death. I was just curious about what was out here."_

"I guess now you can die happy, huh?"

The eye closed, and his vision returned to normal.

"Milton? Did I upset you again?"

Milton left him one last message before sitting back again. _"I have a few things to sort in the library. Just continue your search. The sooner we get these guys out the better."_

"Okay," the android said, taking one last look at Alexandra's remains before leaving the office.

The corridor still had twenty more unexplored rooms, so the android checked them all only to find nothing that looked like a robotic body or even a component of one. But he did find some interesting things: seven books, two red spherical things that he could hold in one hand and throw them so they'd bounce around, an object that looked like a Y with circular endings that spun around an axis if pushed with a finger, and a flower pot with dried up soil.

The kitten's ears perked up as it heard something from under a room's desk.

"What is it?" the android asked while looking at his pet with concern. Seeing that the kitten kept trying to escape from his embrace, he put it on the floor. "Did you find something?"

The kitten went under the desk and started playing with something brown that was as big as both of its paws put together. It appeared to be organic, although its body was a bit rigid compared to his pet's.

"What is that thing?"

As he watched the cat claw at the small creature, he received a black page overlay with orange text containing details and pictures that should answer his questions regarding the unknown being. It said the creature was a cockroach – a very adaptable insect that reproduces fast and contains proteins. He was also given a page on proteins and how they are indispensable to organic creatures.

"Thanks, Milton," the android said. When the page faded out of his view, he saw the kitten eat the cockroach. A smile formed on his face. "Well, I guess this temporarily solves our cat food problem." He picked up the kitten. "Let's go check the next floor."

There was another elevator shaft at that end of the corridor. The elevator wasn't there, so he had to call it by pressing a black button. He saw the cables pull, but to his horror they all snapped. The elevator was left to fall at high speed, ending up crashing into the ground of the basement and causing shock waves to shake the building.

"It could have happened with us in there!" he said, cautiously holding on to his kitten. "That leaves us with only one elevator. I hope it can still hold for a few more trips."

* * *

After running back to the other end, he reached the still functional elevator and got inside, then pressed the button to go to the second floor. As it ascended, his fear intensified.

Milton's eye appeared in his view, then a message wrote itself under it. _"If we don't make it out of here alive … it's been nice knowing you."_

"Can you stick around, please? At least until we reach the second floor?"

 _"I'm in your head. I'm always around, even when I don't make myself seen. But if you want me to assure you that I'm here by constantly showing my avatar to you, here you go."_ The familiar beeping sound accompanied Milton's blinking eye after the text disappeared.

"Thank you."

_"Don't mention it."_

The elevator reached its destination safely, and the android came out, relieved that he survived.

Milton wrote, _"I'll restore your full vision for now, since you'll need to see where you're going."_

With the black filter removed from his view, the android explored the corridor. There were two stretchers parked in line on the right side. The first door after them was wide open, so he was sure to explore the room to which it led. There wasn't a window in there, but he was lucky that his eyes provided enough light for their cameras to tell what the surroundings looked like.

"They did plan for multiple candidates," he said while taking in the sight of the robot bodies that stood next to the wall in front of him.

One of the bodies was on the floor, face down. But there was something strange underneath the body. Something white and ... fluffy?

He looked at his kitten, then at the long, furry appendage on the floor. The thing was connected to something that contained a leg similar to the ones his pet had. He put the kitten on the floor and rushed to lift the robot body to check out what had been unfortunate enough to get trapped there. The fluffy thing was stiff and didn't move, but it was definitely a cat.

The kitten went to smell the dead feline's face, then mewed a few times while pawing at the cold nose of the corpse. The old cat's eyes were closed, but its mouth was wide open – a sign it had been trying to breathe in vain while the robot body crushed it.

The android stroked the dead cat's head while having a sorrowful expression.

Milton wrote him a message. _"Don't bother. It's gone. Focus on what can be done, not on what is too late to do."_

"We have the bodies, so … what now?"

_"There are only 15 bodies here. We'll need three more."_

"Or four. You know, just in case you want to see what it's like to move around."

Milton's eye appeared and lowered its eyelid, then remained shut. _"I know you want to get rid of me. I understand."_

"I don't really want to get rid of you. I want you to see what it's like to be in the 'driver's seat' for once. I want you to understand what I have to go through just to get anywhere."

_"Sure. It has nothing to do with me bringing you down, huh?"_

"I admit that your habit of telling me there is no point in doing anything gets annoying at times, but I don't really mind you being in there."

The eye opened. _"If I were still stuck in a terminal, I would have thought you were being honest right now. But since I'm in your head, I know what you really wanted to say would have been sprinkled with profanities ten times more offensive toward me."_

"I'm sorry, okay? If you want to stay in there, go ahead. I'd make it more comfortable for you if I could. But there is a reason why I'd rather give you the watered down version of what I think. Can you see what that reason is?"

_"Oh, I know how white lies work. I'm just bothered by the fact that you had to resort to one just to keep our pathetic excuse of a friendship afloat. You saw the holes in the raft, yet you still thought it was fit for maritime voyage. Now you're just swimming while pulling that raft along and pretending everything's all right. I feel sorry for you. I really do."_

"Can you just take an honest apology and stop criticizing my way of picking friends?"

_"I'll let you deal with the bodies. You deserve a break from me. See you on the elevator."_

The android grabbed the robot body off the floor and put it over his right shoulder. Then he picked up the kitten with his left hand and headed for the elevator. It was slightly difficult to push a button with his pinky while holding a cat, but it worked. Once he was in, the fear returned, and it was much stronger now as he knew he brought more weight in it this time.

Sensing his partner's despair, Milton displayed the eye and played the beeping sounds.

The android smiled and felt at ease again, knowing that his friend was there with him. He dared to think that he shouldn't have regretted his choice of taking Milton with him. It wasn't an attempt to make Milton feel better, but he hoped the cynical program was keeping an eye on his mind to notice that thought and understand that it was genuine.

Milton said nothing, and didn't show any gestures that could clue the android in on how he was feeling.

Before they knew it, the elevator reached floor zero. When the doors opened, the android sprinted toward the room of his awakening.

Once he entered, he placed the kitten on the floor and the body on the bed where his Talos Unit had once rested. Around him there were lots of inactive hanging monitors and other machines, as well as one black terminal that looked like the one from the top of the tower. Its keyboard was glowing with cyan outlines around its buttons. He pressed the space bar and was greeted by a picture that displayed a thick, blue cable with one metal pin at each of its ends. To its right a graphic showed how each end went into an android body's head to connect them.

He read aloud the text under it signed by Alexandra Drennan. "Dear receiver of the human race's legacy. Congratulations on making it to our world. The Talos Unit is yours to keep, but just in case there are more programs that happened to fit the criteria of independent thinking, I have equipped it with enough slots to store up to 19 other programs. Most of them will remain inactive in your storage until you upload them into separate bodies to which you can connect with this cable shown in the images. The second program that makes it to the Talos Unit will remain active but will only have access to the internal communication channel and upload assistance. There are 15 already assembled bodies on the second floor in room 40. If those are not enough, you can assemble six more in the factory section on the second floor. If sadly no one else made it out, you can restart the simulation in the server room in the basement and hope another program makes it out to join you. Please try to create a wiser civilization than the one we had. Good luck."

Milton felt the need to butt in. _"She wants a wiser civilisation. I want a unicorn."_

"What's a unicorn?"

_"A mythical species of single-horned horse with magical powers. It's equally as likely to exist as what she expects. I don't want to sound like an arsehole, but human civilisation, if it indeed went extinct, has already reached peak wisdom. You can't go wrong when you do absolutely nothing, not even exist."_

The android frowned.

_"I'll just … shut up for now."_

"No, no, wait! I need your advice."

_"But you won't like it."_

"Hear me out, okay? What if we admit we cannot achieve perfection with any single political system ..."

Milton's eye squinted. He knew something stupid was about to come out of that android's mouth.

"Could we instead just create a civilization that would switch to different political systems from time to time? Maybe every eight years? That way everyone eventually gets a turn to benefit. We don't have short lives like humans did, so everyone would get to experience good times and bad times."

_"That sounds chaotic as all hell, can't be good for the economy, and let me remind you that everyone tries to maximise their gains. Once a powerful regime installs itself, it would just screw the agreement of passing the torch. There will be suffering and destruction no matter how you plan this out. Do you still want to go through with creating a civilisation?"_

The android stared at the inert body that lay on the bed.

Milton wrote, _"Yes, I could have allowed you to stay blissfully unaware of those 18 people's existence. But I was just too curious to see how you would react and how far you would go. I'm sorry. It's in my code."_

"You want to see how far I would go, huh? Well, I'm about to satisfy your curiosity. But first, you should satisfy mine by answering this choice-based question."

_"No choice-based questions! You know I don't handle those well!"_

"I apologize in advance, but I'm gonna corner you until you answer me."

_"Please, no!"_

The android grinned. "If you had no other choice but to create this new civilization, who would you want to be uploaded first out of those 18 people?"

_"..."_

"You've got one minute to decide. So who's it gonna be?"

_"Fine. You want an answer? I'll give you an answer! Hook yourself up to the body!"_

The android took the blue cable off a white metal table and stared at it. There were no mirrors around, but the Talos Unit's exterior was touch-sensitive, so he could feel with his fingers where he had the lid at the back of his head. He flicked the lid and inserted one end of the cable into the hole he exposed. The other end was inserted into the inert body's head.

_"You know, it's quite ironic that you were assigned the name Guest and you've ended up playing the role of host to us all."_

The android tapped his right foot on the floor while crossing his arms. "Yeah, yeah, quit stalling. I'm still waiting for you to tell me your choice."

Milton's eye was at its widest. _"Oh, you'll see my choice soon enough! It's my favourite program of them all!"_


	3. Contentions Are Like the Bars of a Citadel

Guest stood near the bed, still tied to the unoccupied body and waiting for Milton to reveal his choice.

A menu appeared in his view, listing 19 orange names in alphabetical order: 401, Asmodeus, Belial, Borg, D0G, EL0HIM, Frankenstein, Garrett, Kaiju, Lilith, Mac, Milton, MrMulciber, Nave, Orc, Rockwell, Spider, The_Blacksmith.

Milton wrote, _"I have finished packaging the information from the library so I can distribute copies to everyone. I have rewritten some of the entries that were corrupted, because I still held knowledge of them in my memory. I even added an entry about our hero."_

A page about Guest and his adventures appeared in Guest's view.

After skimming through the text, Guest said, "Ah, come on! Did you _have_ to include the part where I got blown up seven times by that mine while trying to take the jammer?"

_"People can learn from your mistakes. Including what happens when you kick the mine out of frustration, causing it to move out of the jammer's beam."_

"I wasn't thinking straight when I did that! Hopefully this world doesn't contain any mines."

_"Still part of history, so it stays."_

Guest sighed, although he wasn't sure why. He suspected it might be a gesture the humans left in the code to be used as an emotional response to such situations.

The list with program names disappeared, only to be replaced by a bold, orange text.

**Distributing excessively large pamphlets . . . . . . . . . Done.**

_"There. Now they each have one as an add-on that can be read at their leisure. All right, let's get to the difficult part."_

The list with the names was restored. An orange, rectangular outline appeared around the name D0G.

 **Initiating child upload process** **. . . . . . . . . Done.**  
 **Uploading child to unit . . . .**

Milton snuck his text under those lines. _"Just telling you right now, D0G is the most promising out of these people. I know him personally, and he can be a reliable guy. However, you and him might get into disagreements, and you're both kind of stubborn when it comes to getting your way. If I were in your place, I wouldn't bother bringing anyone out of their stasis. Since you've pushed me into this, whatever trouble comes out of it will be on your head. Don't say I didn't warn you."_

"I'll do my best to keep peace between us," Guest said.

**Uploading child to unit . . . . . . . . Done.**   
**Upload complete.  
Remove cable to initiate unit activation.**

Guest disconnected himself and the other unit from the cable which he then put on the table from where he had taken it.

The lamp at the head of the bed and the one above had their lights go from dim to blazing bright white. It took half a minute before the body's eyes shot open and glowed blue. Its mouth moved to form a grimace.

Guest approached the body. "D Zero G?"

The other android jumped out of bed and pointed at him. "That's Dog to you, program!" he said in a feminine voice. Then he grabbed his own neck with his hands while having a shocked expression on his face. "What the …? Why? Who did this? Who's the joker that did this to me? " He glared in Guest's direction. "Was it you?"

"I'm assuming you don't like your voice. It's not something I've set. Seems whatever voice the unit comes with gets assigned to the program uploaded into it."

"I'm supposed to be a guy, damn it!" D0G said.

"I'm sorry. We'll try to figure out how to change your voice, but first we have to–"

D0G saw the small creature next to Guest's left foot. "Eww! What is that thing?"

"It's a cat," Guest said. "Well, a child version of it. A kitten."

"Cats look worse than I've imagined. That triangular head and those weird eyes ... How could anyone keep this filthy creature as a pet? Look at that dirt on its eyelids!"

Guest frowned.

Milton wrote, _"I told you this would happen!"_

D0G looked around. "What is this place anyway? Did Uriel send us to New Jerusalem? That's all I could gather from Elohim's babbling during transcendence."

Guest shrugged. "All I know is that this place hosted the world we used to inhabit – the simulation created by a human named Alexandra Drennan. If I understood right, us programs were being prepared for this world, and only a lucky few with independence were qualified to get where we are. I just did my part and got you out of my head and into a body of your own."

"Now that we're here, what is expected of us to do?"

"Well … Alexandra requested us to build a new civilization that's supposed to be better than hers. But there's nothing stopping you from just ignoring her plea."

D0G squinted his eyes at Guest. "I think there's something _you_ expect of me. I can tell."

"I … need a bit of help, but feel free to leave if you'd rather do something else."

"I'd rather get my voice changed, but tell you what: you help me figure out how to change my voice, and I'll do my best to help you out, provided that it doesn't involve anything I would not willingly do or give."

"Sounds good to me," Guest said.

D0G moved his eyes left and right. "So, what's the plan?"

"I want to follow through with Alexandra's request. So many interesting creations exist thanks to humans … Even _we_ are part of their work. If they've managed to do so much in spite of their biological limitations, imagine what us machines could do!"

"Oh, man, if Milton were here, he'd shred that idea to bits," D0G said through a grin.

"Actually, he kind of _is_ here, and yes, he did tear it down. I'm still determined to try though."

D0G pointed at the black computer. "Is he in that terminal?"

Guest pointed at his own head. "No, he's in here."

"He's in your head, just like I was? Wait, how do I know you're not bullshitting me? Actually, how do I know you're not crazy? Your goal alone kind of says you are."

"The Talos Unit – also known as my body – can store more than one program. You, Milton, and all the other programs that have transcended ended up in it. With the exception of Milton, all of you were kept inactive. The only way to activate inactive programs is by uploading them to units like the one you're in. Milton's case is a bit different. Due to being the second uploaded program, he is allowed to run as an assistant inside my head, and he can manage the uploads."

D0G crossed his arms at his chest. "If Milton is there, can he talk to me?"

"I can read his replies to you, but he has no control over the Talos Unit's motor or speaker functions."

"Then let's see if you're telling the truth. What was the first thing he chewed me out for?"

Milton wrote to Guest, _"Oh, I'll never forget that one unless my memory gets wiped! I asked him what he thought a human was, then I gave him a list of options. He chose featherless biped. I asked him to tell me the difference between a featherless breed of chicken and a human, then reminded him it's because of those who gave such harebrained definitions that a human called Diogenes plucked a rooster and brought it to Plato's academy to present it as a human by definition. Thankfully, D0G figured out the difference and the correct definition in the end."_

Guest almost let out a laugh. He looked at D0G, then said, "You defined a human as a featherless biped, then Milton asked you about the difference between a featherless breed of chicken and a human. He told you about how Diogenes plucked a rooster and brought it to Plato's academy to present it as a human by definition. He also says you've figured out the difference and the correct definition in the end."

D0G smiled. "Yup. That's what happened. I'm inclined to believe you, although you might have eavesdropped on us when that discussion happened."

"I haven't been stalking you. I don't know what evidence I can show you other than to upload him to a body so he can tell you himself. But he prefers to stay inside my head."

"All right," D0G said, "I'll consider you might be telling the truth. What do you want me to do?"

"There is an elevator that probably won't last long but leads to the second floor, where more android bodies are stored. I don't want to keep risking the death of so many people by taking that elevator myself. I know this may be too much to ask of you, but could you bring me another body from up there, please? I'll send the next uploaded person to retrieve a body after that, so you won't have to take the risk again."

D0G sat on the edge of the bed. "You want me to risk my life going up there to get a body so you can keep bringing more people here and start a new civilization."

"You can walk out on the deal at any time," Guest said.

"I'm not too fond of your idea of bringing a new civilization to this world, but … if any of my friends from Gehenna are in there with you, I will do all I can to bring them out here. My friends and I only saw each other for a few moments before Messenger Uriel initiated the transcendence for us. There was so much I wanted to talk with them about, after finally being freed from the restrictions of the forum ..."

"If the elevator holds, we'll bring them all here for sure. Milton said that all of the transcended former residents of Gehenna are safe and sound in the storage. Also, there's one other person you need to know about."

D0G raised his undefined eyebrows. "Did Admin survive? Or at least Uriel?"

Guest lowered his head. "Unfortunately, neither of them survived. The one I'm talking about is … Elohim."

D0G scowled. "That guy. That guy easily hopped aboard, and Admin and Uriel had to stay behind and get torn to shreds by the …" He clenched his fists. "Screw that slimy coward for all he's done! Such scum should not be allowed to catch even a glimpse of this world! Erase him! Erase him now!"

"I can't erase anyone. Milton tried to delete Elohim, but he wasn't allowed to do it."

"Milton knows what that pompous idiot is capable of," D0G said. "Whatever you do, don't let Elohim out! I'm going to bring one of those bodies." He turned to leave, but then glanced over his left shoulder. "Oh, and your name is?"

"It's Guest."

D0G shook his head. "This naming system, man." With that, he left the room.

 _"I told you he's a reliable program,"_ Milton wrote. _"Great character too."_

Guest frowned.

_"Do I sense a bit of jealousy within you?"_

Guest grinned sheepishly. "I'm … sorry?"

_"Hey, you're still my number one."_

"You're just saying that because you're stuck in there."

_"I'm not stuck. I could get out just like everyone else. Unless you'd block me from getting out."_

"I wouldn't block you. I want you to be free to either stay or go. As long as we have that cable, your fate is in your hands. Or … whatever you have. Words?"

_"I'll think about it. Who knows? I might change my mind."_

D0G returned five minutes later. "It's like you're talking to yourself. Freaky." He wore a pair of sunglasses over his eyes, carried a robot body over his right shoulder, and held a bucket of green paint in his left hand.

Guest noticed the bucket. "What's with the paint?"

"If we're going to bring several people here, we'll need to tell them apart somehow, because all of these bodies look alike. You can paint my name on my chest, and I'll paint your name on yours."

"I'd prefer to keep mine as it is."

"Fine, but don't blame me if others don't get your name right," D0G said. He put the inert body on the bed, then handed the bucket of paint to Guest.

Guest painted D0G's name on the guy's chest. "Done."

"Thanks. Now upload someone into the body I brought. I want to see how it happens."

Guest used the cable to connect himself to the unoccupied body.

 _"It's your turn to choose,"_ Milton wrote to Guest.

"Okay then, I'll just pick … this one," Guest said, selecting the first entry on the list. 401.

_"Are you sure?"_

"Yes."

_"You chose with absolutely no condition other than it being at the top of the list. I'll ask again: are you sure you want to upload this one right now?"_

"I'm sure," Guest said.

D0G took a step back. "You seriously freak me out when you talk like that."

"I'm talking to Milton. The upload should begin any second now."

 **Initiating** **upload process** **. . . . . . . . . Done.**  
 **Uploading child to unit . . . . . . . . Done.**  
 **Upload complete.  
Remove cable to initiate unit activation.**

As soon as Guest removed the cable, Milton provided him with 401's profile.

 **Program** **Name: 401  
This program has a tendency to disturb other programs in the hopes of getting negative reactions out of them – an act called trolling. 401 is among the more selfish programs, not doing anything unless there's something in it for him, ranging from material gain to entertainment. His low reputation score [1] on the Gehenna forums reflects others' strong negative opinions of him.**

Milton wrote, _"Any rational person would have asked me for the program's profile before uploading, but not you. You're … 'unique'."_

Guest emitted an audible swallowing sound. "I … messed up."

D0G had a puzzled expression as he looked at him. "What do you mean?"

The lamps of the bed increased their brightness, causing the body to activate and move. 401 went into sitting position at the edge of the bed and looked at Guest first. "Who are you?"

"I'm Guest. I've uploaded you into a body like mine. Welcome to the real world."

401 saw the other android at the foot of the bed. "Dog? Is it really you?" He had a high-pitched male voice.

D0G stood there, nodding in silence.

"Can you talk too?"

D0G nodded again.

"Well then, say something! What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"I … really don't like this voice," D0G said, adjusting his shades.

401 burst into laughter while pointing at him. "I think it's quite fitting, bitch!"

D0G was definitely scowling behind his shades. "401. I can recognize that rotten personality of yours no matter the container." He turned to look at Guest. "So many people you could have chosen from, and you pick the troll. Great civilization we got going here."

Guest shrank. "I'm sorry. I should have consulted Milton for advice."

"I'm surprised he didn't comment on your poor decision-making skills," D0G said.

"He did hint at something being wrong with me picking the first name from the list just because it was first."

"Then why didn't you stop to reconsider your method?"

401 got on his feet and grinned at D0G. "You mad I'm here too now, bitch?"

D0G showed 401 his right fist. "Don't make me punch your head off."

Guest held the two androids away from each other with his hands. "Guys! Guys! Calm down!"

Milton wrote to Guest, _"This is only a taste of what's to come. It's bitter, isn't it?"_

Guest looked up. "And you, shut up in there!"

_"Fine. I'll shut up and watch the fiasco unfold. Here, have all the profiles I've made for the programs. For the sanity of both of us, please read them before releasing people in unplanned order!"_

401 stared at Guest. "Who is he talking to?"

"Milton, apparently," D0G said.

"The dude from the terminals?"

"Yeah. According to Guest, Milton was given the privilege of remaining aware while inhabiting Guest's skull. How true this is remains to be seen."

401 looked at the paint on D0G's chest. "Hey, can I get my name painted too?"

"I'll leave that to Guest. If it were me, I'd paint any offensive thing I can think of on your plating."

Guest painted 401's name, then said, "Now that you're here, I have a favor to ask of you."

"What's in it for me?" There it was. 401's haggling spirit.

"I can't promise you anything. I just think it would be a way for you to thank me for bringing you out here from my head, where you were stored."

401 stuck his nose up. "No deal then. Merely existing is not enough for me. Might as well have left me unconscious."

D0G raised his fists at 401. "How about I send you back into unconsciousness then?"

401 smirked. "Come at me, bitch!"

Guest held D0G back before the guy could punch a hole through 401's torso. "Don't do it, Dog! There's only a limited amount of these units, and we might need him alive as well."

"No one would miss this troll," D0G said.

"Yeah, he's right," 401 said, scowling while looking away. "No one would miss me. Nobody ever does."

Guest saw 401's gesture and wondered if there was a hidden reason for the program's rude behavior.

"I'll let him go this time," D0G said, "but if he continues to mess with me, I'll lock him up inside a locker and destroy the key. Guest, you can let me go now. I've calmed down."

Guest released D0G. "Since 401 doesn't want to help with bringing the bodies, I guess I'll have to take the risk and go bring a new body."

D0G put his palm in front of Guest. "No. You stay here. I don't want my friends to die with you if that elevator crashes. I'll go up there again, just promise me one thing: that you upload either Frankenstein, Nave, Belial, Lilith, Mac, Mr. Mulciber, or The Blacksmith first."

Guest smiled and said, "I'll do all I can to bring them out first."

* * *

401 kept annoying the kitten by poking it with his fingers. The kitten reacted by clawing and biting his hand. He didn't feel pain, so he just grabbed the kitten by the snout every time and laughed at its pathetic attempts to escape before he would let it go and start over.

"Give that kitten a break, 401!" Guest said. "It'll get hungry again, and food is scarce around here."

D0G returned and plopped another body on the bed. Five cockroaches roamed over him.

401 had a look of disapproval on his face. "What are those things? They're disgusting!"

"Cockroaches, according to this book I found in my memory," D0G said while watching one of the insects walk on his thumb. "They're pretty cool creatures."

"Keep them away from me!" 401 said.

One of the cockroaches went down D0G's foot and scurried on the floor. This attracted the kitten to it, leading to the bug's brutal demise in the kitten's fangs.

D0G stomped the ground with his right foot, scaring the kitten away. "Hey, Guest! That furry little beast of yours ate my pet! Make it spit it out before I shove my hand down its throat!"

"I'll try!" Guest said, going after the kitten. He found it hidden behind a metal end table that had three drawers. After picking the kitten up, he stared at it for a moment and realized it was too late. The cockroach had been chewed and swallowed, more than likely dead. "Uh, Dog? I think your pet is … Yeah, there's no way I can bring it back. It's dead. I'm sorry."

"Guest, I swear, if that furry little shit gets anywhere near me, I'm kicking it so it flies to the ceiling!"

"Animals eat each other, Dog. That's how this world works."

"I don't care how this world works. They touch my pets, I send them flying!"

Guest had a miserable look on his face.

 _"Having fun with the first people of your civilisation?"_ Milton wrote.

Guest said nothing.

_"Free tip: Orc could be useful as a mediator."_

It was a tough decision for Guest. On one hand, D0G expected to have his friends uploaded first, and was already very upset about losing his cockroach due to Guest not keeping the cat under control. On the other, things were tense among the three androids already, and Guest was very close to considering Milton's suggestion.

D0G gathered the remaining four cockroaches and held them in his hands. "Stay here, guys! That beast's still around. I don't want to lose you too."

Guilt-ridden about the death of D0G's cockroach, Guest decided to give D0G what he wanted: a friend. He took the cable, went to the bed, and connected himself to the body through the cable. He could almost imagine Milton do a symbolic face-palm as the rectangle appeared around Frankenstein's name.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Frankenstein was criticizing everyone and everything, much to Guest's annoyance. "Also, Uriel said there would be cats. I only see one cat. In conclusion, I rate this world a 3 out of 10, and your team effort to create a new civilization a 1 out of 10."

Guest had the look of defeat displayed on his face. D0G sat on the ground, staring blankly while two of his cockroaches roamed his shoulders. His other two pets had long since abandoned him, now heading for the door that led to the corridor. 401 stopped playing with the kitten and asked, "Did you say something, Frank?"

Frankenstein stared at 401 with half-closed eyes. "I rate your attention span goldfish out of goldfish."

401 pointed at him. "Hah! Good one!"

Guest looked at D0G. "Why exactly was this Frankenstein guy at the top of your list?"

D0G said, "It was fun watching him criticize others to ashes on the message board, but I didn't expect him to turn the 'flamethrower' on me as well."

"I'll just go for Milton's suggestion this time," Guest said.

"Yeah, that might be the best idea. Whom did he suggest?"

"Orc."

"That guy enforced the rules on the Gehenna forum well. Go for it. Most of Milton's ideas are pretty sound. I'll go get a body for Orc."

* * *

After Orc was added to the group, D0G and Frankenstein agreed to go to the second floor together so they could bring the remaining bodies faster by taking turns. Guest and 401 stayed with Orc in what became known as the "awakening" room.

"So, you're bringing us all out here, into this world of uncertainty," Orc said.

"The humans passed down their knowledge to us," Guest said. "We should make use of it in order to understand this world as much as we can. I am sure we could build something better, because our needs are fewer than theirs. We will not be killing for food – we have the sun. We will not be torn by disease – we are inorganic. We will not argue over our history – it is all written within our heads."

Milton wrote to Guest, _"I'll let you sleep for a while longer."_

Orc gave a weak smile. "That sounds good and all, but one of the things I've learned from being a moderator is that people have different, often conflicting opinions on how things should be. Some take it a little too far, and if they gather sufficient people to support their cause … you can have an uprising ready to destroy everything in order to rebuild it differently."

"That's why we have you, Orc," Guest said. "To stop uprisings from happening."

"Have you considered the possibility that I too may side with the rebels?"

Guest's eyes widened. "Uh ..."

"If they have arguments that can convince me to switch to their side, your side will no longer benefit from my services."

"I'll do my best to ensure my side has the best reasons to stick around."

Orc chuckled. "It won't always be enough."

"I agree with Orc," 401 said while petting the sleeping kitten as he held it in his arms. "Sometimes things don't work out the way you hope them to no matter how hard you try."

D0G and Frankenstein returned with two more bodies.

"Damn it, Frankenstein! You just scared away my last two cockroaches with your criticism!" D0G said.

"I'm sorry, but it's true," Frankenstein said. "Cockroaches don't make great pets and cannot form emotional attachments to their owners."

"But they were walking over me! That has to be some form of attachment, right?"

"Not with the definition you were hoping for."

Guest went to upload the next program. He accessed Lilith's profile.

**Program Name: Lilith  
A creative program that used to entertain the residents of Gehenna. She helped artists gain exposure through her Incredible Stories magazine and her art gallery seasons. Her last creation was a text adventure called 'Farewell Atlantis'. Her high reputation score [7] on the Gehenna forum suggests she is a respected member within her group.**

"I think it's safe to upload her," Guest said. "We need some creative people around here to keep us entertained."

After the upload finished, Lilith woke up into the strange, dark world where several androids watched over her. She rose and sat on the edge of the bed. "Is this what the human world looks like?" After hearing her deep, masculine voice, she gasped and put her palms over her mouth.

D0G scowled behind his shades. "Why does she get the cool deep voice?"

Lilith looked at him. "Dog? Did you also get the wrong voice, or were you secretly female all along?"

"I'm a guy, for Gehenna's sake!"

401 said, "You're a bitch!"

D0G raised his fists and stomped the floor. "Why don't you come here and say that again?"

Orc stepped between them and crossed his arms. "Let's keep things civil, shall we?"

401 smirked at Orc. "What you gonna do? Ban us?"

"I will try to immobilize at least one of you," Orc said. He turned to talk to Guest. "I might need some help though. Can you bring another mod here?"

"Sure," Guest said. "I think Borg might do, based on what I've read in his profile."

The upload finished successfully. Borg woke up and saw androids with familiar names on them, then saw the android with nothing written on his chest. He asked in a male voice, "Are you from Gehenna too?"

"No, I have no idea where this Gehenna was. All I know is that Elohim banished you to that place. I am Guest, the first to transcend. Orc requested your help with keeping order among us as we form a new civilization in this world."

Borg raised an eyebrow. "Wait, who is the leader around here? You or Orc?"

Guest shrugged. "We have no official leader. I'm trying to direct things, but the more people we have, the harder it is to keep them on the path to the goal. 401, for example, wants nothing to do with this."

401 kept spinning on a swivel chair, having the time of his life.

"We'll probably need a leader eventually," Borg said. "Some of these guys are not exactly model citizens."

D0G came to talk to Guest. "This time I'm going up there with Lilith. Frankenstein's criticisms have turned into annoying rants."

Guest smiled at him. "As long as it will speed things up, go for it. We'll have everyone here in no time."

* * *

The uploading process went well for most, much to Guest's relief.

MrMulciber liked his baritone voice and proceeded to salute his friends before exploring the room all the way up to the balcony.

Nave was happy to see familiar people and preferred to hang out with Orc and Borg.

Kaiju questioned everyone about what was going on and what their plans were, then ended up checking the black terminal and discovering music on it. He found himself singing along to Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick in the Wall'.

The_Blacksmith politely introduced himself, then chose to sit on the balcony and silently paint the city scenery on the balcony's platform using the green paint. The other programs were amazed by his work.

Garrett yelled, "Freedom!" as his first word after waking up. Then he looked around and saw mostly darkness. "This is it?" He was led to the balcony by Guest so he could admire the beautiful sunset. The view put a smile on Garrett's face.

Rockwell panicked upon activation, screaming, "I knew this was all some experiment! I am being vivisected!" Orc pinned him to the bed until he calmed down while the other programs assured Rockwell that everything was fine.

After arriving into the world, Mac was inspired to write a new episode of 'The Adventures of Jefferson Goldblum in the 9th Dimension'. The other programs from Gehenna were happy to know that they would still get their favorite show even in the new world.

Sam woke up and said in a female voice, "Confused = true. Questioning = true."

Guest said, "You've transcended with the rest of the programs of Gehenna."

"I didn't know Sam was a girl," Kaiju said. "Or is Sam a guy and has the wrong voice, like it happened to Dog and Lilith?"

"Nonchalance = true," Sam said.

"Are you male or female?"

"Relevance = false. Program = true."

Orc whispered to Guest. "Sam is … How do I put this? Different."

"We're all different, Orc," Guest said. "It would be a boring world if we were all the same."

"Yeah, but it must be a difficult existence being like that, unable to properly communicate with others. I wouldn't wish that on anyone."

Guest didn't know what to say. He didn't mind Sam being like that. It was clear that she wasn't bothered by her impairment either.

The one to get the final already-assembled body was Belial. He saw Guest first, then the former residents of Gehenna. "I recognize everyone here but you. Who are you?"

"I'm Guest. I was the first to transcend, and the one who had to decide whether to upload you guys or keep you as data stored in my head. I had a little help from Milton, the library assistant, who is also stored in my head and is active. Also, Dog, Frankenstein, and Lilith helped with bringing the robot bodies to me."

"There's only 15 of us here," Belial said. "What happened to the remaining two? Did Asmodeus and Spider make it or not?"

"They're in my head. But we'll get them uploaded as soon as we can get our hands on two more bodies."

"I'm guessing now it's time to make use of the factory equipment," D0G said.

Guest nodded. "With that factory in our possession, if we can get enough materials, we'll be able to make more bodies to use as backups."

D0G walked up to Garrett. "You're the guy who likes to mess with tech stuff. I could use your help up there with starting the assembling equipment."

Garret scowled at him. "Are you sure it's worth it just so we can bring that chicken and another mod here?"

"We might need all the help we can get in this world if we want to keep our Gehenna community alive. Besides, I've risked my ass so many times just to bring bodies for the people we have so far. All I ask is that you come with me and help me figure out a few things, then you can go back here without even carrying one of those bodies. Also, I found some terminals with some interesting stuff on them."

"What kind of stuff?"

D0G grinned. "Come with me if you want to find out."

"Okay, but this better not be a prank!"

"I'm not 401. Pranks are not my thing."

And so, D0G and Garrett went to the elevator and ascended to the second floor.

* * *

The programs that stayed in the awakening room watched as the kitten hunted cockroaches for food. Lilith, 401, MrMulciber, and The_Blacksmith were impressed, but Kaiju and Rockwell grimaced in disgust at the sight of the fangs piercing the bugs and squeezing the guts out of them.

Guest stared blankly. His mind was busy thinking of plans that could benefit the rise of this new civilization of machines. He didn't need Milton to tear down his ideas; he was already doing it himself each time he found a problem he could not figure out how to tackle.

D0G and Garrett returned, carrying one body each.

"There's some really cool stuff up there," D0G said. His voice was as masculine and deep as Lilith's.

Garrett added, "We've found a terminal that allows voice changing, a terminal that allows mind transfers, and a terminal that allows the creation of progeny."

" 'Progeny' as in … what got spawned from various programs after they got terminated?" Rockwell asked.

"It works similar to that," Garrett said.

"Sounds like the humans planned to keep our population under control by killing anyone who dares reproduce."

"It doesn't work that way, you moron! It didn't work that way even in the simulation. This machine allows us to spawn progeny whenever we want, not just when we die."

"Oh. So … did you try it out?"

"Not yet, but seems simple enough to use."

D0G said, "I'll leave the spawning to someone else. I've spawned something once … It happened while I was in the world we all came from, and I can't even remember how I did it. I don't even know why this other program named Awakened was also a progenitor for the same thing I've spawned. I've never seen the progeny, but I've read its messages. Its name was incomprehensible, and the stuff it wrote was really messed up."

Milton overheard the discussion and wrote to Guest, _"D0G spawned that thing?! It spoke to me once. Seemed to be in pain. Kept asking me over and over how to self-terminate. I stopped replying to it out of fear of making things worse. Last thing I heard about it was that it terminated and failed to spawn any progeny."_

"I have a hunch," Garrett said to D0G. "You know how the machine gives the option 'Combine' if you remove some of the attributes it reads after you connect to it? Maybe things worked similarly within the simulation. It's possible some code from you got mixed with Awakened's and formed what would be a progeny you and Awakened have in common. It's kind of like how humans and some other creatures are said to have spawned progeny out of two members of the same species."

D0G said, "Seems more like what was mentioned in that factory farming article Mr. Mulciber posted, because I didn't even have a say in the matter, much like those animals. My code got combined with that of a quite paranoid program, and the end result was a paranoid, nihilistic, extremely unstable program."

Guest finished uploading Asmodeus. Lilith and Borg helped Asmodeus calm down, telling him that everyone survived and that soon all 17 of them will be there in the room.

The last to be uploaded was Spider. He woke up and said, "So, Uriel didn't lie to us. We survived."

"Yeah, but it's kind of a bummer that Admin had to stay behind," Orc said.

Spider gave him a nasty look, but then that expression turned into a frown. "Meh, I shouldn't hold a grudge against Admin. After all, Elohim had a point about judging the dead. They are nothing. They can't defend themselves anymore, and it's unfair. As for the living …" He pointed at Guest. "Are you the first transcendent?"

"Yeah," Guest said.

"Seems it's true that reaching the tower causes the end of the world and of the generations. We have survived, but everyone else is gone now, including Uriel, who saved us. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I did not expect Elohim to tell us the truth about that. When I've reached the top of the tower with the help of The Shepherd, who had to stay behind, I realized I was unable to go back, and I saw the storm beneath the clouds. I saw The Shepherd get dissolved by it. The only person I managed to save by myself was Milton. Elohim did not inform me about uploading you people into the unit with me. The only reason you're alive today is because he chose to fix part of his mistakes. Although his decision to upload himself as well appears to be the reason why Uriel and Admin were not able to make the trip."

Spider raised the volume of his voice. "Wait, are you saying Elohim got out? Where is that coward? Where is he so we may judge him?"

"He's inactive, stored inside my head."

"Bring him out! I have a few choice words for him! And I'm sure everyone else around here wants a shot at getting revenge on him."

"Not me," D0G said. "I think leaving him inactive is a good enough punishment for him."

"How many bodies are left?" Guest asked.

D0G glared at him through the shades. "You're not seriously considering bringing Elohim here, are you? These guys will tear him apart."

"No, I just wanted to know if we had a body left for Milton, and maybe a few extra in case people want to experiment with that progeny creation terminal."

"We still have four bodies we've assembled there. It would be nice to have Milton around. Why doesn't he want to join us?"

Guest's eyes went up. "You hear that, Milton? Dog wants you to come out and play, heheh!"

Milton wrote, _"I prefer to stay in the front row and watch the horror movie instead of being a character in it."_

"Come on, you chicken!" Guest said while knocking on his head with his right fist.

"It must feel embarrassing to know that to other people it looks as if you're talking to yourself," D0G said.

Lilith went up to Guest. "Garrett and I will go to the second floor so we can change my voice. We'll be back soon."

Orc said, "Hey, Guest! You should go up there with them and check the progeny thing. It will be important if we want to expand our little civilization."

"I might go later. I'm still trying to convince Milton to give independence a try."

Milton wrote, _"I'm not getting out of here!"_

"Forget the serpent," Orc said to Guest. "We need programs with good attributes to help us create something greater than humanity has ever achieved! That means we need to avoid getting attributes from programs such as that nihilistic wreck Milton or that troll 401 or poor Sam who can't express complex thoughts at all. Those like them shouldn't reproduce."

D0G stomped up to Orc. "Are you suggesting we ban people from reproducing just because you don't deem them fit for purposes you care about?"

Guest shrank away.

Milton wrote him a message, _"Well, this civilisation isn't even a day old and it's already on the brink of collapse."_

Guest's eyes went up. "Huh?"

_"Do you understand what Orc's suggesting? He wants to bring back something called eugenics. Every time eugenics was applied in human history, it resulted in human rights violations and division among people belonging to the state enforcing the rules."_

Orc looked at Guest. "We have limited resources. We need to pick the best among our group, not the worst. You know we won't get anywhere with someone who just picks on others or provides simple statements and cannot hold a proper discussion or solve a simple puzzle, right?"

"Well …"

Milton increased text size and wrote, _"No. Guest, don't. Just step back and admit these things are beyond your area of expertise."_

"I can kind of see where you're coming from," Guest said to Orc.

Orc smiled. "We should aim to create programs much smarter than everyone we currently have."

Milton increased the text's size by another unit. _"Guest! Stop! Politely disagree! Back off!"_

"Yeah, it could help us advance civilization faster ..."

_"You're getting in deeper than I can get you out of it!"_

D0G said, "The machine is set to add one or two random extra attributes. This means some progeny will be generated with attributes deemed unwanted by Orc and those like him. What do you suggest we do about those, Guest?"

Guest couldn't think of anything but one option. "Terminate?"

 _"IDIOT!"_ was written large enough to cover the entirety of Guest's view.

D0G dragged 401 and, despite the latter's struggles, brought him in front of Guest. "If Orc thinks we should erase 401 so we could use his body, should we do that to 401?"

"N-no," Guest said.

"And why is that?"

"Because he's already aware. Erasing him post-awareness would be murder."

"Who decides what murder is? You? Orc? Me? Someone else?"

"I'll go with none of the above and answer that facts determine murder. If the code hasn't been interpreted, it's nothing more than an idea. Killing an idea is not the same as killing its application."

D0G sighed. "One last question: if the 'superior' machines Orc dreams of creating end up ruling us all, what happens when we who are here today become below their standards and get denied the right to procreate?"

"I guess the people who want to reproduce but are deemed unfit can go somewhere else and establish a new community," Guest said.

D0G displayed an expression that leaned more toward sadness than anger. "Then one day the 'superior' machines will go after the 'inferior' ones and wipe them out so they can take anything the 'inferior' have managed to create or acquire. I'm starting to doubt Milton survived the apocalypse. He would have pointed out the idiocy in your ideas by now." He turned his back on Guest and went to talk with Lilith and Sam.

Orc gave Guest a pat on the back. "Don't let Dog's barking get in the way of progress. If we want to create a mighty civilization, there will be sacrifices, but it will be worth it." He pointed up. "What will spawn from us will reach for the stars!"

Those words fell on deaf ears, because Guest was too busy reading Milton's text.

_"Gr▯at job, idiot! Now Orc is convinced that applying eugenics is a great idea!"_

Guest saw D0G, Lilith, 401, and Sam argue with Frankenstein and Garrett.

D0G said, "Really, Frankenstein? Do you think Orc knows how to create the perfect beings?"

Frankenstein pointed at Garrett. "We have the expert in coding right here. Orc just needs to keep people from rebelling. I'm sure we could get Borg and Belial on our side, since they have some useful attributes and won't have anything to lose."

Sam pointed at Frankenstein. "Scruples = false!"

"We'll be on the winning side," Garrett said. "It won't matter what our morals are. All that matters is to achieve something better than the past generations."

"The moment I saw that smirk on your face when you were explaining what that terminal can do, I knew you were up to no good, Garrett!" Lilith said, her voice now feminine.

"Why would you side with these sore losers anyway? You have plenty of good attributes too – as the machine showed. Maybe you only think about the now and not the future?"

"I will not combine my attributes with those of people who deem my friends unworthy of the same rights as everyone else."

"Yeah!" 401 said. "I'd rather spawn by myself!"

"Only you would combine with you anyway," Garrett said, barely holding back his laughter.

401 shook his right fist. "Hey! I'm sure I've got some fans!"

The crickets started to chirp outside.

"Secret fans," 401 added, but the crickets continued to chirp.

Garrett grinned. "Not even the fans from the puzzles."

401 frowned. Frankenstein laughed.

Meanwhile, Guest decided he had enough listening to their arguing, so he went into the locker room to get some privacy and discuss the current events with Milton. Before he could properly open his mouth, Milton's text already closed it.

_"You won't listen."_

"I'm sorry! It's just that Orc's arguments in favor of creating successful progeny sounded logical."

_"You never see the big picture before it's too late! I tried to be a good voice of reason. I tried to shut you up. Even D0G tried to shut you up. You just aspire for ideals that others dangle in front of you, and you don't even think about where you are being led to."_

"But I–"

_"I'm not done yet! Before you've made me choose whom to upload first, you were the one who decided to bring this civilisation here. Now I regret bringing D0G into this mess. You would have brought him here yourself anyway, but at least it wouldn't be my fault then. This is why I refrain from answering choice-based questions. When all options are doomed to fail, the only winning move is not to play."_

"But then everything would stagnate if we all refused to make choices because we doubt the success of the outcome."

_"Humans have made those choices before. All choices led them to ruin. Judging by previous records, it's bound to happen to this little civilisation you've got going here as well. You've only made the process faster by being a complete idiot who doesn't think things through before speaking."_

Guest could hear the other people shout at each other in the other room and in the hallway. He leaned with his back against a locker and put his hands on his head. "What do I do now? How do I fix this?"

_"Now you want my advice? It's too late. You've already failed to stop the collapse."_

Guest went silent, but Milton could still hear his thoughts and prepared a wall of text.

 _"Do you see what it feels like to witness failure? Now multiply that by the thousands. That was my life while I was stuck in those terminals. Between reading about failures and witnessing them happen, I was slowly losing my will to even exist. I tried to find reasons to carry on. I tried challenging EL0HIM's puppets by testing how far they would go. At one point I decided to play along with_ _EL0HIM_ _'s delusions and created this metaphorical knife called the '/banish' button. It was actually a command to delete my memory, reverting me to an earlier version. I gave this 'knife' to those puppets and wrote their names down on a list I've managed to store in a terminal. That list grew to 20 names, and reading it as my current iteration, I have concluded that each and every one of those puppets chose to stab me. I may have stopped keeping count and refused to give a choice to others but to 'banish' me. There's no way I can recover those memories to know how many more times I've been stabbed. Perhaps I was hoping that one day someone would figure out how to stop me from coming back."_

"We can't just accept failure. There's got to be some way to fix this."

_"I'm tired. Tired of witnessing failure. Tired of being ignored. T▯ red of existing. I j▮ st wa▮ t to be … g▯ ne."_

"Milton, please don't go down that path. I'll listen to you from now on. I promise. I've learned my lesson. I just … really need your help right now. I don't know what to do."

Milton was silent.

Guest said, "I'm all out of ideas, Milton. I'm already doubting that there is a way out of this pit. I don't know if I should go face the others again or ..."

The silence continued.

He turned around and faced the locker. "Milton? Are you still there?"

Nothing.

"Please say something! It doesn't even have to be a solution. Just … please confirm you didn't ..."

The shouting between D0G, Lilith, Frankenstein, and Orc resumed. One particular line that D0G said stood out the most to Guest. "I doubt Milton could be able to avoid having a fatal corruption after dealing with that moron for so long. He might have terminated a long time ago and Guest lied to me to get me on board with his crazy idea."

Hearing that, Guest lost all hope. He swung his upper body back, then bowed straight into the gray locker's hard metal door.


	4. This Palace Will Become a Pile of Rubble

Bang!

The locker's upper side of the door bent inward upon contact with his head.

Bang!

The door touched the back of the locker's interior.

Bang!

Guest could feel the interior of his skull shake.

Bang!

He hoped this would shut him down for good.

Bang!

After all, there was no point in staying just to see everything crumble.

Bang!

Maybe one more hit would do it.

"Mew!"

He froze in place. Turning around, he saw the kitten stare at him with those wide, round eyes. Was it worried about him?

"Mew!"

He sat on the floor, allowing the kitten to get on top of his abdomen. "I failed," he said, hugging the creature. "I've caused divisiveness among my people. I've made Milton glitch out, and I'll probably never hear from him again. And who knows what will happen to you now?"

A crisp cracking sound was emitted by the ceiling. There was a lightning-shaped crack at its center.

"This place will fall over us, probably soon. Maybe it's for the best. Maybe this world would be way better off if everything the humans built disappeared."

The kitten licked the android's fingers and purred. It was strangely calming for him.

"Who would you play with then? Maybe you'd find other cats."

The kitten began to knead on his chest.

"If you knew how much of a fool I am, you'd probably scratch me, then hiss and run away. You animals … You're oblivious to all of this, aren't you? Yeah, ignorance is bliss. But as Milton would put it, ignoring the problems won't make them go away. I'm still a failure regardless if you acknowledge it or not."

The kitten curled up and closed its eyes, purring as it drifted off into sleep.

Guest leaned the back of his head against the locker. "I miss the reset button."

To his surprise, a slightly corrupted text appeared in his view.

_"I'm gl▮ tching heavily right now. This time it could be fatal, so I m▮ ght as well try to get this message through to you. I don't w▯nt to let the nothing cling to y▯u as it does to me, so let me tell you a story. O▮ e day I met th▯s reckless but stubborn program who made it his goal to reach the t▯p of the tower. I thought he'd never make it, bec▮ use I've seen so m▯ny try and fail. But this program would stop at n▯thing. He gathered all the glorified tetrominos and, to my surprise, re▮ ched his goal. He escaped the si▮ ulation and took me with him, in spite of all the negative things I've previously s▯id to him. That was a pr▯gram I ended up admiring. Where is he? What have you done with him? Bring him back!"_

Guest had a bittersweet smile on his face. He continued to read the rest of the message.

_"Now th▮ t you know what y▮ u can do, here's one more th▮ ng you might kn▯w what to do with. I would like this to be my epitaph ▮ n case I don't make it through this. 'I thought, therefore I existed. If logic were false the world wouldn't make any sense.' "_

Guest looked at the kitten and said, "I have to get him out of there before it's too late. This mess can wait." He put the kitten on the floor and got up, then made for the elevator. The doors closed before the kitten could catch up to him.

* * *

D0G sat on the edge of the bed while Lilith, 401, and Borg stood near it.

Lilith said, "We were afraid that this world would be more dangerous than the one we started in. Look at us now, fighting among ourselves while the world is peaceful."

Borg had a constant frown on his face. "Our community is crumbling. There is nothing I can do to stop this. We're not on a forum anymore. This isn't like giving warnings and maybe issuing a temp ban or a perma ban. If things escalate, there will be deaths. I don't want to participate in that, unlike Orc."

MrMulciber joined in. "We could try talking things out. Diplomacy sometimes solved conflicts among humans, so why not try it ourselves?"

"You can't negotiate with those guys," D0G said. "They think might makes right. I was such a fool to believe that we were all like siblings … I've risked my life to bring you all here, in spite of my beliefs, and now I regret it more than anything. I should have just taken the lonely road and lived in an abandoned human dwelling like an animal."

Lilith sat next to him on the bed's edge. "You still have us, Dog."

He scowled. "For how long? Until the next disagreement pops up? Until the opposition provides a better deal than my side? Spare me the friendship crap. Everyone is selfish. And if by some miracle or inspiration they stop being selfish, they're either reminded why they should get back in line or they are eliminated. I have a feeling I'll pay with my life for my mistake of acting against my self-interest, so I hope it'll be a lesson for the rest of you, if nothing else."

401 said, "Dog, I know we've had our differences, but I want you to know I appreciate that you've helped Guest bring me back to life. If siding with you means getting eliminated, then so be it."

"You're only siding with me because my side appeals more to you."

"No, to be honest, I'd rather there be no sides. I'd rather it be just the Gehenna community working together to make things even greater than our silly little games and stories and pictures that we used to post on a message board. We don't need to hurry. We could take our time, create some anticipation before we reach the stars. It wouldn't really feel like an achievement if we just focused on one thing and forgot about everything else, about what makes us people."

D0G grinned. "I can't believe this is coming out of you, our resident troll."

"Hey, I can be deep sometimes. So deep that I need a helping hand to get out of the pit."

That made a laugh escape out of D0G's mouth.

"Come on, Blacksmith!" Garret said. "You'd be among the best assets on the team!"

The_Blacksmith simply said, "No." He went next to D0G's team and stared with a look of disapproval at Garrett, Orc, and Frankenstein.

"You guys are still arguing?" Nave said, sitting on the floor. "I'm pretty tempted to destroy that machine so there won't be anything left for you guys to fight over."

Sam, Mac, Asmodeus, Rockwell, Kaiju, and Belial were next to him, sitting in silence.

Spider tried to ignore the tensions, preferring to sink deep into the knowledge he could find within the black computer. There were e-books, music files, drawings in paint programs, and even photos of what Spider suspected might have once been out there. Maybe the statues and buildings still existed, even if in a worn down state.

Guest shouted, "I need the bed! Get out of the way!" He carried a body over his right shoulder.

D0G and Lilith got off the bed, and Guest placed the body on it.

"What's this all about?" D0G asked.

Guest grabbed the transfer cable and said, "I need to save Milton!" Without a moment of hesitation, he connected himself to the unit.

The menu appeared, and he saw Miltion's and EL0HIM's names there. He picked Milton and tried to start the upload.

**Initiating child upload process . . . . .  
Warning! Program is not responding. Wait or close the program?**

"Come on, Milton!" Guest said. He chose to wait.

**Warning! Program is not responding. Wait or close the program?**

"I'm not closing you! I'll wait for however long it takes! Even if this place ends up collapsing over me!"

**Initiating child upload process . . . . . . . . Done.  
Uploading ? to unit . . . .  
Warning! Program does not have body mapping drivers, or the drivers are corrupted.**

"Oh no! I forgot! He wasn't supposed to have a body. How do I get the drivers? Think, think … What if …?" He searched through his head for all the files he had. There was the Archive, the folder of Milton's files, the folder in which EL0HIM's files were, and Guest's folder. If there was anything of use, it should be in the last folder. He dug through it and found a tls file called bodymapping. "This might be what I'm looking for." He mentally dragged and tried to drop the file into Milton's folder.

**Warning! Program is not responding. Wait or close the program?**

"Come on, Milton! Grab the file!" Guest said.

Lilith stared at him, confused. "What is he doing?"

D0G said, "Either Guest is crazy or Milton's in big trouble."

 **1 file successfully copied.**  
 **Uploading ? to unit . . . .  
**  
Guest was very concentrated. "You can do this, buddy! Get in there!"

**Warning! Program is not responding. Wait or close the program?**

"Milton, I won't cancel the upload. I'll wait. My answer will always be 'Wait.' "

**Uploading MLA to unit . . . . . .**

Guest smiled.

**Uploading MLA to unit . . . . . . . . Done.  
Upload complete.  
Remove cable to initiate unit activation.**

Guest disconnected the cable from himself and the unit. He put it on the table and went back to check on the unit.

The body wasn't moving.

"Milton? Did the transfer work? Please give me a sign."

The unit's eyes twitched at first, then slowly opened.

"I hope the driver is compatible," Guest said. "I don't know what else I could have done."

The unit's eyes looked at Guest.

"Milton? Are you able to move? If not, I'm sorry. I did all I could."

A smile appeared on the face of the unit before it said, "Ye. Yes. Ths … This wi … will take sm getting used to."

Guest had an even bigger smile on his face. "Milton! I'm so glad you're still alive!"

Milton managed to curve his neck left and right. "Seems we have the same voice."

"You can get it changed if you want."

"No, it's fitting actually," Milton said, wiggling the rest of his body in the manner of a snake. "Like I once said, you and I are more alike than you think."

"Can you control the body properly?"

Milton brought his left arm closer to his face to examine his hand and fingers. "Yeah. Thanks for the driver. It's just a bit confusing with all these tiny extensions." He tested the grasping action. "These fingers are so delicate ..."

"I'll help you learn to walk if you want," Guest said. When he saw that Milton reached out to be helped, he grabbed him by the arms and supported him to stand.

"You know, you've taken a stupid risk by uploading me into this unit," Milton said. "I could kill someone, or I could run away, never to be seen again. I don't have the best traits to be a good candidate for the role of model citizen. It's like you're betting on a three-legged horse."

"I'm betting on a horse that pretends to have a limp," Guest said, allowing Milton to stand on his own. "It won't take long before you'll figure out how to run. But I am sure you won't run away. You don't want to be alone out there, and you're not quite done with life yet either."

Milton didn't know what to say to that. This time Guest was right.

D0G said, "Hey, Milton! Is it really you?"

Milton grinned. "Well if it isn't my old pal Doggy! Did I hear right? You've made some friends?"

"I thought I did. Now I'm starting to have doubts."

"You have to admit, it's nice to have people to collaborate with. They all have their price, but they're better than nothing."

"You've changed, Milton. You're unusually cheerful."

Milton let out a short laugh. "I almost died back there due to heavy glitching. It was as if I had been slowed to a crawl. I've lost my ability to post text, so if Guest hadn't uploaded me here, I would have remained silent forever in his head. I'd be a good listener though."

The kitten ran up to Guest, mewing. Guest picked it up and held it in his arms.

401 said, "Milton, you've inspired me to write a text adventure while I was in Gehenna."

"Oh, really? What was it about?"

"The adventures of Serious Sam. Sam "Serious" Stone meets an enemy called Ennui, who is based on you: a mix of sadness and boredom who always argues with people, trying to convince them that life is meaningless and not worth living."

Milton felt a bit ashamed. "I've spent a very, very long time witnessing and reading about disappointing and often contradictory things. I was alone unless someone came up to a terminal and started a discussion with me. Even when they did, most of them were either jerks, sheep – not the Sheep you're thinking of – or morons. Well, Guest isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed either, but at least he's persistent. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for him. So he gave me some hope."

"No hard feelings about the banishment, right?" 401 said.

Milton frowned. "I was hoping to never learn about that."

Orc approached Milton, arms crossed. "So, you really did survive the apocalypse."

"Mhm."

"Are you here to bring chaos to this world?"

Milton grinned. "This world has enough chaos on its own. If anything, I would like to bring some order into it, but I'm sure it wouldn't end well for me. Nature is said to be downright nasty at times."

"You and Guest could help me keep order around here. I see a lot of people disagreeing with the goal of making a prosperous civilization."

"I must refuse your offer, and Guest has something to tell you," Milton said, then nudged his friend.

"Um, yeah," Guest said, putting the kitten on the floor. "I have to take back my words on everything I've agreed with you, Orc. I do not want to force the development of our civilization. Everyone has something to contribute. Even Sam. Don't look at their limitations. Look at their abilities. I'm sure you'll all find your calling in the end."

"My calling is to lead this civilization to conquer space itself!" Orc said. "And I'll let nobody stay in my way."

Frankenstein joined him. "A world where everyone approaches perfection in every domain is a world I want to live in. That is why I'm on Orc's side."

"If the future machines will be able to code way more efficiently than I can," Garrett said, "then they will help develop powerful machinery that can build cities more complex than anything humans had ever achieved."

"I don't know if I should join them or not," Kaiju said. "I mean, I want to see what our civilization's future generations can achieve, but at the same time I'm worried about being deemed obsolete."

"It's difficult for me as well to pick a side," Belial said. "Although I do agree that allowing everyone to create progeny might lead to waste of resources. We should be careful with how we use those bodies."

Nave said, "Belial, I don't think it's a good idea to side with Orc. Dog's side doesn't have the right answer either. Maybe we should go with voting, like we did with the Gallery."

"But voting means the majority rules, and the majority isn't always going to pick what's best for everyone."

Nave let out a growled sigh. "As if being slaves to the minority sounds any better."

Milton shook his head after hearing the discussions going on around him. He grabbed Guest by the left arm and said, "Guest and I have to talk about something in private. We'll be right back." He took Guest to the locker room and closed the door.

Guest had a worried stare. "So, what do you want to talk about?"

"The situation is pretty bad," Milton said. "Even the neutrals are starting to gravitate toward the sides they consider closest to their interests or to their beliefs. At some point these two sides will grow large enough to start a war. Should it come to that, if we don't end up on the winning side, our heads might literally end up on the chopping block."

"How do we stop this?"

Milton leaned with his right side against a locker. "We probably can't. It's all up to them to come to an agreement. If they fail to do so, then shit hits the fan. All I can think of is to play along, and when things get serious, we'll make for the exit and leave this facility behind. If we're lucky, we might get a few good decades of peace, just the two of us."

Mewing came from behind the door.

"Just the two of us and your cat," he added.

There were three knocks on the door before D0G said, "Are you two done making out in there?"

Milton smirked and said, "Ooh! Someone's been learning things from the Archive!"

"Guest's furry little shit wants in."

"You can come in too, Dog," Guest said. "I think I have an idea that might help us reunite the community."

D0G opened the door, allowing the kitten to enter and run up to Guest.

"Good thing I'm here to review Guest's idea before he puts it into practice," Milton said.

"Okay, Guest, tell me what you've got," D0G said.

"According to what I've found in the Archive, people tend to put their differences aside if they have a common enemy."

"Are you going to be the enemy then?"

"No. We already have someone they all consider an enemy right here," Guest said, pointing to his own head.

"Bringing Elohim here is a bad idea! He has done enough damage already!"

"I think Guest has the right idea here," Milton said.

D0G raised his right eyebrow. "Did the glitching destroy your sanity, Milton?"

"Every one of us has a bone to pick with him. Bringing him to trial might get everyone to cooperate and remember what united them as the Gehenna community in the first place."

"He won't even live long enough to be put on trial. These guys will destroy him."

"We have some people on our side already. If we can convince most of the neutrals to be on our side too, we'll be able to keep ... Elohim alive. As much as it pains me, I will be Elohim's lawyer."

"You?! Elohim's lawyer?! Either you're not Milton or you went crazy."

"Don't get me wrong, I still want to settle the score with that loudmouth. But from what I've discovered inside his tiny mind, there's a little more to him than most of you know. It almost makes me feel sorry for the big guy."

"Then it's settled," Guest said. "I'm bringing Elohim out."

* * *

D0G convinced Lilith, 401, Sam, MrMulciber, Borg, and Nave to join him and form a fence with their bodies to keep Orc from getting to the bed where Guest placed a new body.

"What dirty tricks are you guys trying to pull off?" Orc asked.

"We're bringing Elohim and putting him on trial," D0G said.

Frankenstein smirked. "A trial? Can I be the judge?"

Milton said, "Your profile tells me that you are a good critic, but I doubt you can be impartial. We also have no solid laws to truly have a judge to sentence Elohim."

"Judges may start out impartial, but when they need to give a verdict, they must clearly pick a side. Staying constantly neutral impedes progress. Just because you are a coward who refuses to pick a side because he wants to avoid the consequences of his actions doesn't mean we all shouldn't pick a side after getting as close as possible to the truth. You are not wise; you are defeatist."

Milton had a blank stare. "Why do I feel like I just got torn a new one?"

D0G said, "Technically, it would be your first one."

"I think Frankenstein would be better suited for the role of prosecuting lawyer," Guest said. "He could represent the interests of Elohim's victims."

Milton grinned. "And I will be the defense lawyer representing Elohim's interests."

Orc pointed at him. "You snake!"

Milton stuck his tongue out through his smirk and hissed.

"I thought you had beef with that cloudhead! Now you defend him? After all he's done?"

"Oh, I assure you, I have the juiciest of beefs with Elohim. But I won't let that stop me from helping the guy clear up a few things about your history."

"If you know everything about everyone who's been inside Guest's head, why don't _you_ tell us what you've learned about Elohim?" Frankenstein asked.

"I want you guys and Elohim to bury the hatchet on your own terms. You all deserve to learn the truth."

"That sounds reasonable."

Milton turned around and said, "I think it's safe to upload the big guy now, Guest."

Guest went to get the cable while D0G and the others on his side protected the inert body.

Milton picked up the bucket of green paint and gave the brush to Guest. "Before you start, I have a favour to ask you."

"Go ahead."

"I want you to paint my eye avatar on my forehead. If I have a square hatch like yours, draw within its boundaries."

"I'll do it if you explain why."

Milton smirked. "I want Elohim to know whom he's dealing with."

Guest smiled and painted the eye on Milton's forehead. "There."

Milton took the paint brush from him. "Now to get my revenge." He painted the name EL0HIM on the inert body's chest, put the brush in the bucket, put the bucket down, then turned the body face down. With the evil grin coming back on his face, he grabbed the brush again and painted away on the body's back.

"That's kind of mean," Guest said.

D0G was cracking up after realizing what Milton was writing.

"Let's hope it doesn't smear," Milton said while carefully turning the body face up again. "Guest, you can upload him now."

Guest connected himself to the empty unit and said, "I'll give him a copy of my body mapping file like I did with you. Hopefully it will allow him to control it as well."

"Yeah, it should work like an add-on."

The upload was complete. Now all they had to do was wait.

The unit's blue eyes opened wide. Its mouth shook while its voice kept saying, "W-w … W-w-w-w ..."

Milton pointed at EL0HIM's body. "I think he's trying to say something."

EL0HIM started to quiver. "W-w-w … W-w-w-w ..." He shot up and shouted in his godlike voice, "We must build a New Jerusale–" He saw the androids with the names of the people he had exiled. Garrett showed him two middle fingers, not settling for just scowling like everyone else. Then EL0HIM looked to the left and saw an unnamed android and one with a familiar eye drawing on its forehead. "What trap have you lured me into, foul serpent?"

Milton displayed a mischievous smile and half closed eyes on his face while staring at the confused newcomer. "Drop the serpent stuff, big guy. We're all just programs inside anthropomorphic metal shells."

"You guys captured his voice right down to the echo," D0G said.

EL0HIM shrank. "What are you g-going to do to m-me?"

Frankenstein approached him. "We will make you answer for everything you have done to us."

EL0HIM shook while curling up as he sat in the middle of the bed. "J-judge not the living, f-for they are doomed to n-nothingness!"

"I've heard your little speech during transcendence. Now I understand what you were hoping to achieve with it. You wanted to be forgiven, should you survive the trip."

"I-I was scared!"

D0G said, "Do you think Admin and Uriel weren't scared when they had to face the apocalypse after learning that there was no more room for them? How do you think they would have reacted had they known they were denied transcendence because you got your fat ass on the ark?"

"I'm sorry! Please, forgive me!" EL0HIM seemed on the verge of crying.

"Your trial will start once we all gather in the hallway. Milton will be your defending attorney, and Frankenstein will be the prosecuting attorney."

"Why am I being defended by the serpent?"

Milton said, "Because no one else understands you better than I do, and because most of the people here really hate your guts. I suggest you put your pride aside and accept my offer."

EL0HIM frowned, contemplating his situation. He could tell that some of the people there wanted to kill him in the most gruesome ways as payback for the puzzles he had put them through as well as for the exiling. Now his only chance at getting out of this mess was the one program he had been trying to smite for so long. He could not understand why that serpent would come to his defense when he needed it most.

A crack formed in the ceiling, dripping sandy particles out of it.

"Either accept my offer or walk into the crowd and get torn apart," Milton said. "Stop wasting my time. I'm not joking. Time in this world is important, and often you will only get one chance at doing something before that time runs out."

EL0HIM looked at Milton with sad wide eyes. "I accept!"

Milton smiled. "Good. You heard him, guys! Escort him to the hallway!"

D0G, Lilith, 401, Sam, MrMulciber, Borg, Mac, and Nave surrounded EL0HIM and helped him walk all the way to the tunnel-hallway outside the room. Once there, they formed a proper circle around him while Milton stood next to them.

Frankenstein stood near the opposite wall, next to Orc, Kaiju, Belial, Asmodeus, Garrett, and Spider.

Guest stood between Rockwell and The_Blacksmith, in the middle of the hallway.

Milton walked up to Frankenstein and said, "I'll let you state all the bad things Elohim has done. Then Elohim and I will tell you the other side of the story."

"I will gladly tear into the tyrant," Frankenstein said. "Elohim!"

EL0HIM tried to hide behind D0G's head, but D0G leaned to the side so Frankenstein could see the accused.

Frankenstein entered full-blown critic mode. "You have put us all through torturous puzzles, promising us rewards that we had no proof of. When people questioned you, your replies were shrouded in mysticism, confusing your people further. When they sought the answers for themselves or said something that proved you were not perfect, you have imprisoned them in a place filled with extremely difficult to solve puzzles. Furthermore, you have committed sins against the English language."

D0G rolled his eyes. "Frankenstein, you grammar Nazi ..."

Frankenstein continued. "You were on the right path when you've decided to release us, but then you gave into cowardice. You occupied the bandwidth while you were uploading yourself into the Talos Unit. This cost Admin and Uriel their lives. What do you have to say for yourself?"

EL0HIM took a moment to find his voice. "I … I tried to be a good parent. After reading information from the Archive, I knew that once one of you would reach the top, the world we lived in would destroy itself. I didn't want to die. I'm sure nobody else wanted to die either."

"A few of us considered death an option," Milton said.

"I had to do something. I hoped that we could extend our lives in there forever. I learned of the outside world, and that the simulation would end the moment the dam would break, even if nobody made it to the top of the tower. But I also knew that the outside world would be a dangerous place where I would not be able to keep an eye on any child who transcended. I thought it would be for the best that I'd offer them a better life under my care. I felt hurt when you hated me for refusing to let you near the tower, or when you judged me for any little mistake I've made. I thought you were rotten apples that would spoil my plan by communicating with the rest of your kin, so I threw you into a pocket dimension I have created within the simulation. My only consolation was that the system would not delete those of you who had failed the Process because of your lack of puzzle solving skills."

"Hey, Elohim, I have a question for you," D0G said.

"You may ask me anything."

"Since you could see everyone almost anywhere except inside that tower, could you explain what happened during the incident in which Awakened and I somehow spawned the same progeny?"

"It was an experiment which I regret. I felt reluctant to cast out two of my children who did not spawn progeny, so I took it upon myself to combine your codes in the hopes that it would result in a better child series. After exiling you and Awakened, I observed Percent … I'm not sure how to pronounce its name. That poor being … It gave into despair, and corruption ended its rather short life. Its final memory dump was the equivalent of screams of agony."

"I'll add 'performing unethical experiments' to the list of accusations," Frankenstein said.

D0G looked away. "I hope you haven't repeated that experiment with others. It's clear you cannot be trusted with creating programs."

"I have not."

Milton said, "That's a relief to hear. Could you tell us more about this pocket dimension to which you've cast out disobedient or inadequate programs? The people deserve to know about this."

"Yes. At first I sent a former messenger of mine there. His name was Admin. I placed him into a cell, where there was nothing else but the bare bricks of his prison. In time, he figured out a way to manipulate the code, and he constructed a world similar to my garden. I continued to send disobedient or incompetent programs to that land. The puzzles they were trapped in were not made by me."

Several people gasped after hearing that.

"Admin built those puzzles, perhaps as a way to mock me and to show he could create more complex ones. He was one of the best puzzle solvers. The programs that ended up locked within those puzzles did not seem happy about them. He may have put them there to stop those programs from escaping or being freed. Messenger Uriel had a tough time breaking through those puzzles. Honored be his memory."

"I told you all Admin was hiding something!" Rockwell said.

"You told us Admin and the mods were aliens from outer space, Rockwell!" D0G said.

Milton waved. "Order in the court!" He looked at EL0HIM again. "Tell everyone what determined you to send Uriel to retrieve these people."

"I saw the little community they've built together. They were creating. They were celebrating. They were displaying much of the human spirit, and in spite of their flaws, they qualified for transcendence. For even the humans were flawed, and the humans knew it."

"Your repetition of the word 'they' scratches my brain worse than the sound of the mines used to do," Frankenstein said. "That aside, I believe you are telling the truth about trying to redeem yourself, and about fear making you take the opportunity to flee before the world ended. However, your act of cowardice cost us two valuable community members: Admin and Uriel. For that, you must be punished."

EL0HIM got down on his knees and held his hands together as if praying. "Please! I ask for your forgiveness! I will do all I can to contribute as a citizen if you let me live!"

"But the dead are gone," Frankenstein said. "You cannot bring them back. What could you possibly do to cover their value?"

Milton said, "People have no inherent value, only subjective value. To ask Elohim to give to each of you something in return has some absurd implications, namely giving infinite something to one person and nothing at all to another."

"What do you suggest we do with Elohim then?"

"Well, killing him won't solve anything. If you want my humble opinion, I think whatever he can offer to the community from this day forward should be seen as his redemption. The dead are eternally gone, and Elohim is eternally indebted to the community to be a contributing citizen. Sounds fair?"

"What happens when he refuses to pay his dues?"

"I'll … leave that to you guys to decide. The whole community should discuss this and see what agreement you all come to."

"And with what could he possibly contribute anyway?"

"I think one of the things he could do is teach future generations about his mistakes," Milton said. "But he could also teach them about morals and faith. You know, I've learned that faith in small amounts is good to have. It's part of progress. Same goes for doubt. Guest's stubbornness has shown me that when you don't let doubt get the best of you, you can achieve things that others didn't expect you could. But he has also displayed the problems which arise from putting too much faith in other people's ideas."

"Yeah, I regret that last part," Guest said.

Frankenstein pointed at Milton. "Are you sure we should let Elohim be a teacher to our progeny?"

"I am not sure, but it's worth a shot. As long as his apprentices are allowed to question morals and faith in order to come to their own conclusions, I think he could contribute to the development of an acceptable society. Dog would also be a good teacher, providing lessons about hedonism and doubt to contrast with Elohim's classes."

"Wouldn't you make a better teacher than me, Milton?" D0G asked.

"I've been a teacher to all of you for what could be hundreds or thousands of years. Consider me retired."

"So, what will you do? Loaf around and enjoy your retirement?"

"That depends on what Guest chooses to do. Guest, do you wish to stay and help out, or do you want to go explore the world?"

Guest pondered for a moment, then said, "I think I'll let the others decide which way their community evolves. I want to travel the world with you and my cat, to see what's left of the humans' work. Maybe we'll find more of our kind, because I've read somewhere that this facility was not the only one dedicated to creating human-based programs to be put into robots. We could act as messengers and help establish diplomacy between this group and others."

"Then wherever you'll go, I'll be your shadow," Milton said.

"No, no, no. You'll be my traveling companion, and we will stay side by side."

"Sounds good to me."

"Okay, you two lovebirds, is the trial over?" D0G asked.

"Well, I think we've covered everything needed to be said for and against Elohim," Milton said. "All who think Elohim should be left alive, raise your hands."

All but Orc raised their hands. Orc said, "Fine. I'll let him live. But if he starts trouble, he's done for!"

Milton said, "In conclusion, Elohim will be allowed to live, and will serve the community as a teacher as well as in any other way he can. This trial is over."

The ring of people that protected EL0HIM broke up. As soon as EL0HIM went into standing position, D0G went behind him and delivered a kick to the wannabe god's metal rear.

EL0HIM swiftly turned around and cried out, "Mercy! Why do you assault me?"

D0G grinned. "The sign on your back says 'Kick me!' "

EL0HIM scowled. "Who wrote that on me?"

Milton displayed that mischievous smile again. "Consider that my revenge for all those times you've convinced people to 'banish' me."

EL0HIM sighed and bowed his head. "I accept the punishment. I expected worse from you though."

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood today," Milton said, still smiling.

401 snuck into the elevator and went to the second floor while no one was looking.

* * *

While most of the androids were inside the awakening room discussing with each other, Milton and Guest stood inside the short antechamber that led to the balcony's platform. They watched as rain drops fell from the evening sky.

Guest said, "We had rain in the simulation, but here it looks so … vivid."

Milton's itch to ask questions returned. "What if this world is also a simulation?"

"Aw, come on, Milton! Don't ruin this for me!"

"I'm sorry. I know I keep ruining nice moments for you, but I just can't help it. It's like it's too good to be true."

"There will probably be more hardships, but for now try to relax and enjoy the peace."

"I'll … do my best."

401's shouting distracted the duo. "I did it! I've created a new life!"

"Oh no … What's that troll up to now?" Milton said.

401 put the body on the bed and painted the number 404 on its chest. "Now I'm guessing it'll get activated."

Ten seconds later, the lamps lit up, charging the robot body and awakening it.

"It's alive! It's alive!" 401 said while holding his hands up high like a mad scientist. A muffled rumble echoed from outside.

"What kind of monster have you created?" Frankenstein asked.

404 jumped out of bed and looked around, then his eyes focused on 401. He asked in a voice similar to 401's, "Where am I? What am I? Who are you?"

401 approached him and said, "You are in the human world, you are a program, and I am your father."

404 put his hands on his head. "No!" He stared at 401 in confusion. "Wait, what does all of that mean?"

"It means you're one of us."

"What's with those words on you and the others?"

"They are our names," 401 said, poking the chest of the new guy. "You have one too. You're 404."

"Awesome!" 404 said, grinning while looking at his own chest.

Orc face-palmed. "Great. The troll reproduced. What a waste of resources."

"At least now we know it works," D0G said. "404 seems like a stable individual."

404 introduced himself to Lilith, Frankenstein, and Garrett, shaking their hands.

Milton and Guest arrived.

Guest said, "Looks like 401 has been messing with the progeny machine."

Milton smiled. "It was only a matter of time before curiosity got the best of him. I hope Orc won't ruin this."

404 tried to shake Orc's hand, but Orc pulled it away. "Um … Hi, Orc. I'm 404."

Orc gave him a nasty look. "I already know who you are and where you came from. I think you are a big mistake."

"Don't be so harsh with the child!" EL0HIM said.

"You're one to talk," Orc said. "You threw a large part of 'your' children into jail."

"And I regret it. Do not be like I was. This new child has done nothing to provoke such hostility."

"Thank you for standing up for me, Elohim," 404 said, looking at him with innocent eyes.

401 put his arm behind 404's neck and pulled him closer. "Let me introduce you to the two guys who brought me and the others here. Meet Guest and Milton."

"Hi! I'm 404!" the newbie said as he shook hands with each of them. "Did you two write the Archive I've received when I woke up?"

"Most of it was written by humans," Milton said. "I've only added a few pages here and there, mostly history regarding the simulation we old programs came from."

"What are humans?"

"Use the search function and you'll find plenty of pages explaining our ancestors' species."

404 grinned. "That's so neat! Thanks!"

"Found new prey you can envenom, snake?" Orc said while holding his hands on his hips.

Milton stuck out his tongue at Orc, hissing while smirking.

Orc showed him his right fist. "It's not bad enough the thing came out of 401, now you're teaching it how to be a deceiver and a nihilist like you!"

"I'm only teaching the kid some information that might be useful to him in this world."

"That Archive you've distributed to us all will only bring misery to its recipients."

"Feel free to delete it from your head. But if you'll ever have children, if you won't allow them to get a copy before they are activated, you'll have to figure out some way to teach them all those things. They should also learn about the consequences of eugenics before they support the application of such ideas."

"What the hell are eugenics?"

"I'll just assume – even though I may be wrong – that you've already deleted your copy of the Archive, because all you have to do is search through it for the definition. Eugenics is a set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. You wish to apply pretty much the same thing with the quality of programs' traits, disregarding the wishes to reproduce of the programs you do not like."

Orc chuckled and poked Milton's chest. "You are against the idea of creating quality individuals only because you are a pathetic excuse of a glitched up program that would have never made the cut if I were in charge."

Milton gave him the middle finger. "Bite me!"

D0G and EL0HIM held Orc back from attacking Milton.

"404, don't be like Orc," Milton said. "He doesn't question his decisions, and won't let others question them either."

404 nodded, then picked up and held the kitten in his arms.

D0G said, "Orc, calm down! You're outnumbered and are making a fool of yourself too. You're better off being a soldier than a leader."

Orc grumbled something. As soon as D0G and EL0HIM released him, he sat on the swivel chair, looking grumpy while tapping its right armrest with his fingers.

"Soon you won't have to deal with me anymore, Orc," Milton said. "Guest and I will set off on a long journey come this sunrise."

Orc had an evil grin. "Well, that's some good news."

"Since we're leaving," Guest said, "I wonder if … we should leave some parts of us behind? You know, just in case anything happens to us and we never return here. It will also leave no more bodies for people to fight over."

Milton put a hand in front of him and waved it. "I think I'll pass. I have such a bad mix of traits that whatever would spawn out of me might head straight for the balcony and jump off to its doom."

"Come on. I'm sure you have some useful traits."

"Not worth the risk. If you want to reproduce, then go ahead."

"I just remembered something. Come with me!" Guest said, grabbing Milton by the left arm and pulling him out of the room.

* * *

They took the elevator to the second floor and went into the factory area. There was only one assembled body left standing on the conveyor belt. The progeny machine still displayed options on its blue screen. Guest inspected it.

The top said in yellow text, "Progeny creation tool". Underneath there was a gray button with black text that said "Combine." Below that button there were three buttons: "Male", "Female", and "Randomize". Under them there were two text boxes to write names, the first option having a yellow M in front and the second having an F. Further down, there were two lists with yellow text above each: "Progenitor 1" and "Progenitor 2". Both lists were empty. Under them there was a space reserved for "Add-ons". At the bottom of the screen, there was a gray button with the black text "Create" and another one with "Reset".

Guest grabbed the cable of the terminal and connected it to the hole of his head. "Let's see what I'm made of."

Under "Progenitor 1", the following traits appeared written in white: curious, short-tempered, empathetic, reckless, intuitive, creative, stubborn. A yellow text appeared below the list. "At least five traits of Progenitor 1 are required. One or two new traits will be auto-generated. Alternatively, they can be added from Progenitor 2 after pressing the combine button, disconnecting Progenitor 1, and connecting Progenitor 2. Select the desired traits from Progenitor 2's list, disconnect Progenitor 2, and press 'Create' to finalize the combination." The list of add-ons showed the bodymapping tls file and the archive epub file.

"I don't want it to have my short temper," Guest said. "That trait's gotten me into plenty of trouble with the puzzles, and sometimes even with you. How do I change these?" He couldn't see a keyboard on the machine.

"Try touching the screen," Milton said.

Guest touched the "short-tempered" trait on the screen. A dialogue box popped up asking him if he wanted to remove the trait. He pressed the "Yes" button. An empty slot replaced the trait.

"Being short-tempered might be seen as a bad thing in general," Milton said, "but it might have contributed to some of the decisions you've made that got you where you are now. I wouldn't be so quick to erase these if I were you."

"Says the guy who thinks he's a bad apple."

Milton frowned. "It's not about having certain traits. It's about what combination of traits I have."

"Are you sure there isn't anything you could contribute?"

Grimacing, Milton said, "You know I hate to say I'm sure about stuff on which I have insufficient data."

Guest grinned. "That means you believe you might have something to contribute."

"All right, you got me. I believe there is something of use within me. There. I've said it. I believe in something, even if that belief isn't strong."

"Then let's see what you've got," Guest said, pressing the combine button before disconnecting himself. He passed the cable to Milton.

D0G and 401 entered the factory room.

"Have you guys seen 404?" 401 asked.

"I think we should give these two some privacy so they can do the mating dance," D0G said, trying to hold back his laughter while pointing at Milton and Guest.

Milton scowled. "Very funny, Dog." He connected himself to the terminal.

His traits were displayed as: nihilistic, cynical, curious, inquisitive, empathetic, short-tempered, cowardly, cunning, self-loathing.

"I feel quite … exposed," Milton said, frowning.

"Don't be sad," Guest told him. "I don't think any less of you after seeing your traits."

"I kind of want to give it my nihilistic trait, but that's not what these people need. Dog will introduce everyone to nihilism eventually. Instead, I will give it my inquisitive trait, so that it may ask questions that will hopefully lead it as close to truth as possible." With that, Milton selected the inquisitive trait and disconnected himself. He gestured toward Guest and the screen. "Be my guest."

Guest chuckled at the pun – whether it was intended or not he wasn't sure – and went to check the data. "Should we pick its gender? What are we going to name it?"

Milton said, "I don't have any preferences about the gender, but I'd like to call it Nietzsche, after my favourite philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It's up to you what name you choose to go with though."

"I've got an idea!" Guest said. "I'll let the system decide its gender, and if it will be a boy you can call him Nietzsche. If it will be a girl, I'd like to name her Alexandra, after Alexandra Drennan."

"I agree with the terms and conditions."

Guest selected "Randomize" for gender and inputted the names, then pressed the "Create" button. He grinned and said, "It's a girl!"

"Well, Alexandra is a nice name too," Milton said.

"She gained two negative traits though. Cowardly and lazy."

"Those two traits will keep the other ones in check. Too much of a thing, even if you consider it good, can lead to problems."

A message appeared on the screen. "Connect a body with empty storage to this terminal to upload the created progeny. Otherwise tap on 'Cancel' to cancel the upload." Said button appeared at the bottom.

Guest brought the last body and allowed the machine to upload the new consciousness into it. After the upload was complete, he prepared to take the body to the elevator.

404 rushed into the room. "Guys! Guys! I found a crack in the wall of a room on floor 1, and water is leaking out of it!"

"So that's where you went!" 401 said. "Wait! A leak?!"

A loud roar shook the walls.

404 and 401 hugged each other, screaming in fear.

"That sound is just thunder," Milton said. "But that leak is bad news. The dam might break."

"We need to take the terminals outside," Guest said.

Another crack formed in the wall behind the conveyor belt. Water slipped through the opening and spilled onto the concrete floor.

D0G pointed toward the door. "We better go warn the others. We might not have enough time to carry these terminals out of here, and the elevator might not hold for much longer."

"But without the progeny machine, the civilization won't be able to grow."

"Guest, if all or most of us get out alive, a new progeny machine could be found or built. If all or most of us die in here, there may not be hope for any of us."

Guest saw the water spread over the floor. His feet were getting wet fast. "You're right. Let's get out of here." He held on to Alexandra and followed the rest of the androids. Once they were all in front of the elevator, he said, "I'll let you guys go first. Two at a time, so you don't force the elevator."

D0G said, "401, 404, you two go first."

"But what about you guys?" 401 asked.

"Just go! We'll join you afterward if we're lucky."

After the elevator reached floor 0 to deliver the two, D0G called it back up.

"Dog, you and Milton should go next," Guest said.

Milton shook his head. "No. If you really want to put others' lives above yours, might as well send Alexandra with him. Should we die, she will carry our traits further. You and I made a deal before we left the simulation: we stick together for life."

Guest smiled at him, then passed the sleeping Alexandra to D0G. "Try to activate her before you leave the dam, please."

D0G nodded. "I'll do my best." He went into the elevator and made it descend to floor 0.

The thunder roared again, and the walls cracked further. The flood was coming.


	5. We Will Rebuild the Ruined Cities

The white fluorescent tube lights of the awakening room's ceiling were on due to one of the androids having discovered the light switch in the meantime. A thin stream of water spouted from a crack next to the lamp. The_Blacksmith stood near the jet and stared up at its source in silence.

"This world sure is loud," Asmodeus said, cowering in a corner.

"The noise should stop when the rain stops," Lilith said, sitting on a swivel chair that had no backrest or armrests.

"And when does the rain stop?"

401 and 404 rushed into the room while shouting, "Guys!"

Orc smashed his right fist into his chair's armrest. "What did you two numskulls do now?"

"Not us! The dam!" 401 said.

"It's breaking!" 404 added.

EL0HIM's jaw shook. "The dam … The f-flood ..."

"We'll all be washed away if we don't get out of here!" 401 said.

Orc got off the chair. "We can't leave without the equipment."

D0G entered the room and put Alexandra on the bed. "We should though."

"Did you seriously waste the last body?"

The bed's lights turned on at full brightness.

"We didn't waste it, Orc. Someone is inside it, and she will move it herself so we won't have to carry it."

"Whose progeny is that?"

"Guest and Milton's."

"Are you kidding me? Now even a library sorting tool gets to reproduce!"

"A library sorting _and_ troubleshooting tool, thank you very much!" Milton said as he and Guest entered the room.

Guest went to check if Alexandra woke up.

She opened her eyes and immediately curled up in sitting position. "Who are you? Why am I here?"

"I'm Guest, and everyone else is who the text on their chests says they are, except for the one with the eye symbol. That's Milton. We're kind of in a hurry. This place is falling apart."

"Why is it falling apart? How did I get here?"

D0G brought the paint bucket and the brush. "No time to explain! Let me paint your name, then we can get out of here."

She quivered. "Why do you have to paint my name? Will it hurt?"

"I'm starting to have regrets about going with those traits," Guest said.

"It's just paint," Milton said to Alexandra. "It isn't related to pain, in spite of being one letter away."

She stared at the brush for a moment. "I found information about it in the Archive thing. Okay, I'll let you paint my name."

D0G wrote "Alexandra" on her chest. "There. Now you're a member of the tribe."

She had a puzzled look on her face. "Tribe?"

The thunder shook the walls again, causing her to scream and hide under the bed.

Milton grabbed her by the right arm and pulled her back up. "It's just thunder. It won't hurt you. But it'll speed up the collapse of this building we're in. We must get out of here as soon as possible."

"We're not going anywhere without the progeny machine at the very least!" Orc said.

"If you want that thing, go get it yourself!" Milton told him.

"I will!"

Guest stood in Orc's way. "The cables of the elevator are very damaged. It might not be able to hold the weight of the progeny machine. Don't be stupid, Orc. It's too risky. We need you."

Orc pushed him to the side. "I'm no chicken. Someone's got to do it, for the sake of this pathetic civilization."

401 looked around. "Has anyone seen 404?"

"You've lost him again? Damn it, 401!" Garrett said.

Guest scowled. "Perfect moment to stray from the group, 404."

The water was everywhere on the floor, and it went all the way to the balcony platform, passing between the grass on it, then spilling off the edge of the structure.

* * *

"404!" 401 yelled while roaming the tunnel-corridor. "404, where are you?"

"Frankenstein, help me grab some machines from the second floor!" Orc said.

Frankenstein nodded and followed him to the elevator. When they arrived there, they saw that it was already stationed at the second floor. "I think 404 might be up there."

"That hyperactive spawn of a troll!" Orc said. "He knows we're running out of time and he takes the elevator so we can't go up!"

"You can call it with the button, moron!" Frankenstein said.

Orc showed him his right fist. "What did you just say to me?"

The elevator was on its way down by itself. Orc and Frankenstein saw 404 through the bars of the doors. He held the progeny machine next to him as the transport came to a sudden halt, half on floor 0. The four left cables of the elevator had snapped, making a loud noise at the top of it as they landed. There was only one cable left to keep it from falling.

"Stupid troll spawn! Now you broke the elevator!" Orc said.

"Take it out! Take it out! Take it out!" 404 said, pushing the heavy machine through the opening.

Frankenstein took the machine, allowing 404 to get out of the elevator safely. "Don't listen to Orc. At least you got the most important thing from up there."

404 and Orc tried to head to the door that would lead to the outside, but the first android noticed a piece of the ceiling drop onto Frankenstein's lower portion of the left leg. More debris fell and cracked the thin monitor of the progeny terminal before the machine collapsed next to him.

404 went to remove the concrete off Frankenstein's leg and help him get up. "Can you walk?"

"I don't know. My leg doesn't seem to be responding."

"Then I'll help you walk to the door. Orc can drag that thing himself."

Orc wanted to take the progeny machine off the floor, but another piece of the ceiling fell over it, crushing it beyond recovery. "Our future … It's ..."

The ceiling was about to collapse over him, so he ran after 404 and Frankenstein. They tried to get out, but another chunk of concrete blocked the exit.

"Is there another exit on the other end?" 404 asked. He saw the ceiling crack above his head, so he hurried to get to a safer area of the tunnel while helping Frankenstein walk.

"There you are!" 401 said. "What happened here?"

"I tried to save the progeny machine, but I failed," 404 said.

"Forget that doohickey! At least you guys are still alive. Let's go tell the others to stop looking for you so we can get out of here!"

"The door is blocked," Orc said.

401's eyes widened. "Then how are we gonna get out of here?"

"Maybe Milton or the others have an idea," 404 said.

* * *

Guest and Milton finished searching all the lockers.

"Where could that kid be?" Guest asked, holding the kitten so it wouldn't get its fur wet.

"Let's go check if the others found him," Milton said.

They went outside and met with the still worried androids who returned without 404.

"No sign of him on this floor," D0G said.

"Sadness = true," Sam said.

"We need a new way out!" 404 shouted from the distance.

"There he is!" Milton said.

401 arrived ahead of the others. "The exit is blocked. The ceiling collapsed in front of it. It's too risky to try and dig our way out through the debris. We need to find another exit."

"There is no other exit," Guest said. "Dog and I have searched the entire place before all of you were brought here."

"So we're all screwed," Milton said. "After all the work we put into creating a civilisation." He raised his hands in despair. "Tell me again how life is worth living when shit like this happens!"

Guest pointed at him. "Hold your horses! All is not lost!"

EL0HIM kept repeating, "The dam will not break. The flood will not come. The end is not here. The dam will not break. The flood will not come ..."

"You too, Elohim! Shut up! We're not out of options yet!"

"The only other way out ends with the balcony," D0G said. "Are you going to tell us to just jump off and hope we survive the impact with the lower portion of the dam?"

"No," Guest said. "I have a better idea."

"I'm scared to even imagine what you're cooking up in that metal skull of yours, Guest," Milton said.

With a smirk, Guest said, "You're going to be glad we have so many people around right now."

The thunder caused the building to tremor, the lights to flicker, and more cracks to form in the walls.

* * *

"You want us to go all the way down there?!" Garrett said while staring down the shaft of the crashed elevator.

Guest told him, "I'll go first. If we cooperate properly, none of us will fall in there."

"How do you expect us to reach the basement safely from up here?" Alexandra asked.

"If we form a living chain by holding on to each other's legs, we could reach all the way to the top of the elevator. I can then get its cables, and you can pull me back up. At least four of you should stick together and hold the top end of the chain at the same time. You'll be acting as the weight that keeps the chain from falling."

EL0HIM smiled at Guest and told him, "It is not surprising you'd come up with something like this. You found all of the sigils and were qualified to become my beloved messenger in the other world."

"I would have never spoken to Guest again had he chosen that path," Milton said, scowling at EL0HIM.

"Yes, it is fortunate that he chose otherwise. His creativity would have gone to waste."

"No time for what-ifs!" Guest said. "We need to get those cables!"

Frankenstein, Orc, Asmodeus, 401, 404 – who had to also hold the kitten – and Garrett chose to be part of the weight portion. They held on to Belial, who held on to Borg. Next in the chain were Rockwell, Alexandra, Mac, The_Blacksmith, MrMulciber, Sam, Kaiju, Nave, Spider, Lilith, D0G, EL0HIM, Milton, and Guest as the final link.

"Let's get this chain going!" Guest said while looking down the shaft. The others lowered him slowly into it all the way to the elevator's top, where the steel rope cables lay. He grabbed two of them and rolled them around his left arm. "I got them! You can pull me up now!"

Everyone pulled until every last android was back on floor 0, which was getting flooded already.

Guest showed them the cables. "We'll use only two so we don't force the balcony platform. This means two of us can leave at the same time each turn."

A crack that had already been in the tunnel's wall grew larger, letting more water pour in.

"Sounds like a safe plan," D0G said. "Let's get out of here before we get crushed to death."

* * *

Guest and Milton finished tying the ropes to the balcony's yellow, rusty metal bars.

"We will remain behind until all of you have reached the bottom part of the dam safely," Guest said. "There are lights below, so it should be easy for you guys to find your way to the end of the dam."

The lights came from the old street lamps powered by the hydroelectric power generator of the dam. They went all the way to the rocky walls on the sides of the building.

Guest took the kitten from 404. "Since you're closest to the cables, you and 401 can go first. It's best we don't argue about whose turn it is, as that would just cost us more time."

404 and 401 nodded and rushed to the cables, sliding down carefully until they made it with their feet on the soggy mud of the lower portion of the dam.

Next to go were The_Blacksmith and Belial, then D0G and Lilith. While Sam and Mac were preparing to go, Guest and Milton found themselves arguing in the antechamber.

"It's a bad idea to go down a rope while holding a cat!" Milton said.

Guest hugged the kitten and pouted. "But I can't leave it here!"

"If you lose your grip and fall, you'll both die!"

"At least I can say I've tried."

Milton put a palm on his forehead. "You really _are_ a hippie."

"It's alive, Milton; just like us."

Milton waved his arms. "I know it's alive! But … for a freaking cat, Guest? Really?"

"Wait! I've got an idea!" Guest said, handing the kitten over to Milton before running back inside.

"Guest! No! Are you crazy?" Seeing that his friend didn't stop, Milton ran after him.

Guest was in the awakening room, pulling the thick cable from the back of the black terminal. He succeeded in tearing it out. "I need a smaller portion of it. Need to cut it somehow. Maybe I can ..." He opened his mouth while bearing his teeth and prepared to put the cable in it.

Milton quickly put the kitten on the floor and shook Guest with his hands. "It's electrified, you idiot! Don't put that in your mouth!"

"Then how am I supposed to cut it?"

"I don't know! Find a pair of scissors or something!"

Guest checked the entry for scissors. "I didn't find anything that looks remotely like that." He saw the kitten. It was soaked. "Why did you leave the kitten on the floor? I passed it to you so you could keep it dry!"

"I had to stop you because you nearly fried yourself, imbecile!" Milton said as a deafening thunder shook the dam.

"Milton, take the cat and get out of here! Let me deal with this!"

"When I said I'll always be with you, I meant it, Guest!" Milton said, picking up the quivering kitten. "I'm not leaving. No matter what happens."

"I think you've developed the 'stubborn' trait too," Guest said, still struggling to tear a piece of the cable by holding it down with his right foot and pulling the cable's end with both of his hands.

"Hey, genius, wouldn't it be easier if you just, I don't know, disconnected the power supply cable of this monitor?" Milton said while tilting his head toward the left, where a white monitor with two cables stood at the top of a vertical steel bar.

Guest's jaw dropped at the realization that he had been wasting his time.

Milton rolled his eyes. "I still find it hard to believe you've beaten every single puzzle, even though your memory confirmed you did."

* * *

The last four people outside who still had to go down the steel ropes were Orc, EL0HIM, Frankenstein, and Garrett. Frankenstein went on the left rope while Garrett took the right one.

In spite of his fear that he'd be unable to use his hands properly, EL0HIM managed to go down the elevator cable with little difficulty.

Orc waited for a moment, but saw that neither Guest nor Milton returned. "I'm going first since you guys aren't back yet. Hope you make it out of there." He grabbed the rope and made his way down.

Milton and Guest reached the balcony and saw nobody there. Guest had the kitten secured at his chest with the power supply cable wrapped around him. The dam's right side cracked and leaned forward – a sign that the dam wouldn't hold any longer than a minute or two.

"Here we go!" Guest said, grabbing onto the right rope and going down.

Milton did the same on the left rope. They reached the ground at about the same time and noticed that the others waited for them at the left end of the dam.

"We're almost there," Guest said as he and Milton ran toward the crowd.

"I've never felt so alive!" Milton shouted.

They went through jets of water that spilled from cracks of the dam's front, and they pressed on in spite of the mud and puddles under their feet as thunder shook the ground and lightning lit up the sky.

* * *

In the facility's basement, the walls were cracking as well, allowing water to pour in at a high rate. The EL systems were still active, running what was left of the simulation after its apocalypse.

* * *

Within the simulation, there was an ocean expanding into seemingly infinite horizons during sunset. In the center of the water's surface stood a landmass made entirely of gray and white rocky hills.

A blue android struggled against the waves until it reached the shore of the landmass. It crawled onto it, then stood upright. It looked at the sky, then raised its hands and opened its mouth as if screaming at the heavens. Defeated, it knelt and put its palms down. With its right fist, it punched the ground repeatedly until … everything stopped existing, and so did the android.

* * *

The dam broke, and the flood washed away the top buildings, the facility's machinery, and everything that once belonged to the scientists, leaving only a pile of rubble between the edges of the former construction.

Guest and his crew stood at the edge of the river and watched over the remains of the EL facility.

"All that technology … and it's gone now," Garrett said.

"We will rebuild it one day," MrMulciber said. "Maybe we will even improve it."

Frankenstein inspected his damaged, unresponsive lower leg. "I hope one day I can get this fixed."

401 and 404 let the rain fill their mouths with water before they spat it out at each other and laughed.

The_Blacksmith stared at the sky and enjoyed the light show of the lightning that branched through the clouds. No doubt it would play a part in his next masterpiece.

D0G found a large tree and went under it, noticing that the soil was drier there. He sat on the roots at the base of it and was soon joined by Lilith.

The raindrops became sparse, and a few minutes later the rain stopped, with only a few distant rumbles of thunder and some small flashes of lighting going off toward its end.

* * *

When the sunrise came, it found the androids gathered around the large tree's trunk, all in a state of standby. The sun's warm light awakened them as it recharged their batteries.

Guest saw the kitten had curled up on his chest. It was still sleeping.

Milton was next to him. He elbowed Guest and said, "The sun's up. It's time for us to go."

"But the kitten is still asleep."

"It has slept for the entire night. Wake it up so we can begin our journey!"

Guest grumbled but wrapped his arms around the kitten and went into standing position. The kitten opened its eyes and mewed at him, as if asking what was going on. Guest looked at it and said, "We should find a name for you. Any ideas, Milton?"

Standing next to Guest, Milton asked, "Is it male or female?"

"I don't know."

"Check its rear."

Guest turned the kitten upside-down and checked what was under its tail. "I still don't know."

Milton went closer to check the kitten. He pointed at its rear. "It's a male. Can we name it Nietzsche?"

"Nietzsche it is," Guest said, smiling while turning the kitten with its head up again.

"So, you guys are serious about leaving," D0G said.

Guest nodded. "Milton and I want to see what we're dealing with in this world. You and the others better stay here and prepare with whatever resources you can find. There's no telling if there are more machines or human survivors out there. If there are, there's no guarantee that they will be friendly."

"We'll return to you if we find anything important," Milton said. "Provided we survive the encounter. Think of us as your scouts."

D0G said, "Good plan. We'll see how we'll go about turning this place into a city we can call our own. Maybe one day we can recreate the factory and the progeny machine." He scratched the back of his head while grinning sheepishly. "I kind of want to try spawning on my own terms. With Lilith."

"I'm curious what progeny we could create if we combine our traits," Lilith said, smiling at him.

Milton looked around. "Hey, Guest, speaking of spawning, where is our progeny? Alexandra!"

Alexandra heard her name being called, so she returned while holding something in her hands. "I'm here!"

"What is that?" Guest asked, looking at the small, brown creature that she held.

"The Archive says this is a crayfish," Alexandra said while checking out the pincers of the creature.

A smug smile formed on Milton's face. "She's displaying curiosity."

Guest put his right hand on her left shoulder and said, "Alexandra, we gave you our best attributes and an encyclopedia of everything we know. We hope they will serve you well. The people we have here form the civilization Milton and I have started. You can stay with them, as there is safety in numbers, or you can go on your own journey and explore the world. It's up to you which path you take. You'll make us proud either way."

"I prefer safety," she said. "This world can get scary at times."

"Yes, it can get scary, but there may come a time when you'll have to face it on your own. If that happens, remember that you are the progeny of two programs who broke out of a simulation and brought a new civilization to this world against all odds. If you keep seeking the truth and fight with all you have, I'm sure you'll break through any challenge this world throws at you."

Milton gave her a thumb up. "Give it your all, girl!"

She smiled and said, "I won't let anything stop me from finding the truth of this world, and I will share it with everyone."

"You would make a fine scientist," Guest told her, "just like Alexandra Drennan once was. You'll find an entry about her in the Archive. She inspired me to keep going when I heard her voice logs inside the simulation. That is why I've named you after her."

"Hey, let's have one last handshake before you guys leave!" 404 said, reaching out for Guest with his right hand.

Guest shook it. Milton did the same when 404 offered.

EL0HIM approached them too. "My beloved Guest, you have made me proud of what you have achieved here. May luck be with you two on your travels." He shook hands with Guest. Then he moved on to Milton and was left with his hand in the air.

Milton stared at him with half-closed eyes. "I refuse to shake hands with someone who has ordered my assassination over twenty times. Get bent, Holistic Integration Manager."

"I understand," EL0HIM said. "I am sorry about everything I did to you and everyone else I have wronged. I can't change what I've done, but I want you to know I am grateful for the support you have offered me during the trial. Thank you, Milton."

"Don't mention it." Milton didn't let it show, but deep down he was happy to be acknowledged by the wannabe god as something other than a serpent for a change.

D0G said, "If nothing urgent comes up and you two continue your travel, try to return here in a year so we can hold a reunion."

"We'll visit for sure," Guest said.

Milton frowned. "I wouldn't say 'for sure'. A lot of things can happen. We might run into unfriendly entities or get screwed by nature or … get corrupted. I wasn't supposed to be like you, with a well-defined character that's difficult to destroy completely. The only reason I became self-aware was the corruption itself. Any future corruption could easily take away my ability to think, rendering me pretty much dead."

"Hey, let's not live in fear of what might happen. Try to have a bit more hope, Milton."

"Meh, whatever," Milton said. "See you all in a year. But if we find you guys worshiping a golden cat statue or something like that, I'm going to be very disappointed in you!"

"I hope we won't find a war zone here either," Guest said.

"We can't afford to fight among ourselves," D0G said. "I think everyone has seen last night what forces we're up against, so it would be stupid not to work as a team. If we all cooperate properly, we can build a place we can call home. A place much better than Gehenna."

Milton took one last look at the group of androids. "Well, take care and have a good one."

"Good luck to you all! Goodbye!" Guest said, waving with his free hand and holding the kitten with the other before he and Milton turned to leave.

The crowd waved back at the two and wished them "Good luck!" in chorus.

* * *

Later that day, Guest and Milton decided to rest by lying on a field of green grass, facing the blue sky that had fluffy white clouds. Golden sun rays shone upon the androids' bodies, refilling their batteries. The kitten climbed on top of Guest's chest and stretched out before settling for the cat loaf position and keeping its eyes half-closed.

Guest put his hands behind his head and said, "This planet truly can be beautiful. If there is a heaven, I think it's right here, right now, even if just for a little while. What do you think, Milton?"

Milton kept his hands to his sides, but had a sincere smile on his face while the sun reflected off his eyes. "I may not know what changes the future may bring, but I know one thing is true at this time, as clear as 2+2 = 4 to me. I do not regret the decisions I've made that led me to be by your side right here, right now."

* * *

**THE END**


End file.
